the Bachelorette
by rollercoaster182
Summary: Gail as the Bachelorette. I took all the interesting contestants from previous years and put them in this story.
1. Chapter 1

"This season on the Bachelorette we are in for an exciting ride as Gail resumes her journey to find love. We all remember last season when Nick proposed, Gail said yes, and the two began to plan a wedding. But to everyone's shock, Nick left Gail at the altar. This time Gail is in charge and will be making all the decisions as she chooses who stays and who goes. Gail will meet twenty-five available bachelors, all from different backgrounds and different parts of the country," says Chris Harrisun.

A yellow Z28 Camaro pulls up outside the Bachelor's mansion. Gail steps out of the driver seat and walks over to Chris who greets her with a smile and a "welcome back."

Gail can't help but roll her eyes as she steps into a hug from the host. Chris continues, "Are you ready to start your new journey to find love?"

"I feel like I've done a lot of healing and growing. I was so blindsided when my relationship with Nick ended."

"I think we all were," interjects Chris.

"Right, so I've had a few months now to get over Nick and reflect on my relationship to see what went wrong and have now realized we were in two different places ( _literally_ she thinks). Some people might think I'm not ready for this, but I am. I'm ready to find love, I'm ready to get married, and I'm ready to start a family."

"That's we wanted to hear, how are you feeling about meeting the guys?" asks Chris.

"I'm a little nervous, but extremely excited," says Gail.

"Well we got a great group of guys for you, so let's get started," and with that Chris Harrisun leaves Gail all to herself standing in front of the large mansion with the wet walkway and the first limousine pulls up.

"Here we go," Gail whispers to herself. _I can't believe I agreed to do this again, well at least it gets mom off my back_ she thinks.

The first guy gets out of the limo; he buttons his blazer, and confidently walks over to Gail. "Hi," as he goes in for the hug.

Getting caught off guard Gail hugs back and mumbles, "I'm not much of a hugger." _I wonder how many hugs I'm going to be subjected to tonight_ she thinks.

"I'm Jack," he continues, "and you look gorgeous." Gail did look gorgeous, wearing a slim fitting, navy blue, long gown, and her platinum blonde hair perfectly done up in her signature pony tail.

"Thank you, you look nice too. Where are you from?"

"Oh yeah, so I'm Jack, I'm from Owen Sound, and I work at the local college as an instructor for Great Lakes Marine Training."

"Wow, that sounds great, well it was great to meet you, head on inside and I'll be there in a little bit," as Gail points the way for Jack towards the front doors of the mansion. Jack smiles and heads inside, and another bachelor gets out of the limo.

This man has a tan clearly visible against his white jacket, he strides over to Gail and holds out his hand for a hand shake. "Hey, I'm Erik, and I work on a vineyard in the Niagara area. But in my free time I like to participate in War of 1812 battle reenactments."

"Wow, how…fascinating, you run around willingly being shot at." A long pause, as the two stare at each other. "Well it was great to meet you and I'll see you a little latter on." As Erik walks away Gail thinks, _the only thing I remember about the War of 1812 was the chocolate lady Laura Secord, gosh I could really go for some chocolate right now._ Another bachelor emerges from the limo.

This one casually walks over to Gail and says, "Hello my name is Liam, I am a blacksmith from Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia. And I just wanted to say I'm glad you're the bachelorette this season."

"Well thank you, what is the most interesting you've ever made?"

"We normally make equipment for fishing vessels, but sometimes we get commissioned to make War of 1812 styled swords. They are so cool."

"I'm excited you're here and can't wait to meet everyone and learn a little about you all. I'll see you later," Gail says as she ushers him away. _Another history person, yawn, what are with guys and weapons?_

The next limo arrives and the first guy to step out has an upturned umbrella and is miming walking into a blustery wind. He reaches Gail and says, "You just blew me away last season like a strong gale."

"Wow, how clever (internally rolling her eyes). So you know who I am, but who are you?"

"My name is Michael and I am a meteorologist from Vancouver, but all my friends call me 'lightning' and you're going to have to come find me later to find out why," Michael finishes as he walks down the path into the house.

 _Pretty sure it's because you're a meteorologist and you're friends probably don't call you that,_ Gail decides as she rolls her eyes.

A taller, well built man, who has a very non-threatening smile gets out of the limo next. "Hi my name is Chris and I'm so happy to be here."

"I'm happy you're here too Chris, where are you from?"

"I'm originally from Timmins, but I work as a police officer in Toronto."

"I'm a police officer too, something we have in common. I look forward getting to know you better; I will see you a little later on."

More fellas come; most give the regular speech consisting of name, hometown, and occupation. One pulled up in Lamborghini, _clearly a rental,_ another came on horseback, _like I need a prince to save me_ , and someone was dressed as a dragon, _I don't really get that connection_.

The last guy gets out of the limo, he's medium height, wearing a too tight grey jacket, and has bangs. He rushes over to Gail and eagerly introduces himself, "I'm Dov and I totally respect you for coming back this year after what you went through."

"Thanks, it's great to be back and give it another go. So Dov where are you from?"

"I'm from Toronto and I work as a police officer, so if any of these guys give you any trouble, I'll help you out."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I can handle myself thanks. Why don't you go join the rest of the guys and I'll see you in a bit." With that Dov leaves Gail by herself and Chris Harrisun reappears.

"So…they look like a great group of guys. Do you think you just met your soul mate?" asks Chris.

"Yeah, they seem great, a real variety. And I do…I do think my soul mate is in that house." Chris gives a smile and ushers Gail into the house to rejoin the guys.

Gail takes her time walking into the mansion, she gives herself time to catch her breath and center herself. She regroups and considers all her options how best to find what she is truly looking for. She walks into the main room and all the men stand up and applaud, she is given a glass of champagne and is expected now to give a speech. _Uh oh,_ she thinks, _keep it short and sweet._ Gail clears her throat and begins, "I'm so glad you all are here, I am so thankful that you are all giving this a chance, keep your heart open and who knows maybe we'll fall in love." Everyone clinks their glasses together and cheer.

Two seconds later Dov approaches Gail and asks, "Can I steal you for a minute?" Everyone else groan and someone says 'and so it begins.'  
Dov and Gail walk outside and Dov begins his spiel, "I always knew I wanted to be a police officer, catching bad guys, keep criminals off the street, you understand."

"I do understand, considering I also am a cop. There's another police officer from Toronto here too, do you know Chris?"

"Oh yeah, Chris and I are buds. So as I was saying, I love my job. You get to keep the city safe and make sure people feel comfortable being out of their homes. But, now I want to find someone to share my life with, and they need to understand how much I love my job." Just as Dov finishes, Jack appears and looks at Gail, "Can I steal you for a minute?"

Gail and Jack go sit on a bench by the pool. "Were you nervous being the first guy out of the limo?" asks Gail.

"Honestly, yes I was. I was shaking and you were standing there looking beautiful, and I got even more nervous. But it helps that you were in this experience last year so you know what us guys are going through."

*CRASH* Gail and Jack hear a loud sound and look back to the house and can hear voices arguing. Gail quickly apologizes to Jack and heads inside to see what's up. Inside the mansion Dov and Chris are facing one another with thunderous stares.

Gail approaches the two and asks, "What's going on, what are you two arguing about?"

Dov points at Chris and says, "He wasn't supposed to be here. We agreed I would apply and come on the show to meet you."

Chris looks confused and utters, "I never agreed to anything."

Dov gets closer to Chris, so Gail steps closer to them to try and calm them down. Dov still visibly upsets declares, "We had a pact; we knew we both liked her from last season, but we decided I would come on the show."

"I don't remember agreeing to that." Dov clenches his fists to punch Chris but Gail intervenes and steps between the two and gets a fist to the face. Gail staggers back holding onto her face, shaking her head.

"Ouch! What the hell!" Gail yells. Chris Harrisun appears in front of Gail and puts an arm over her shoulder to lead her away from the guys. "I'm going to need a minute," Gail tells Chris Harrisun and walks away.

Gail is sitting in one of the upstairs rooms that she became way too familiar with last year. Gail has her face in her hand and sighs, _what have I gotten myself into._ She's sitting on the bathroom floor when she sees someone quickly walk by, with what appears to be a red lunchbox. "Hey lunchbox!" Gail calls out.

The person comes back into view in front of the bathroom door, "who me?" Gail now sees that the person is a woman with brown hair and glasses, and appears to be smiling at Gail. Gail nods her head and the woman enters the bathroom. "This is actually a first aid kit, not a lunch box. I am here to look at your face or would you rather I bring you a snack?"

"Are those my only options?"

The lady laughs. "Hi, I'm Dr. Holly Stewart. Please move your hands from your face so I can take a look." Gail surprisingly does what she's told and lets Holly touch her face where Dov punched her. "It looks ok, does it hurt much?" Gail shakes her head and stares into Holly's eyes. Holly is extremely focused on Gail's face. "Do you need any pain meds?" Holly asks looking into Gail's eyes. Gail shakes her head again. Holly smiles and asks, "Do you need anything, besides a snack?"

Gail thinks for a second and says, "Do you mind sitting with me for a second?"

"Of course. Why don't you put this ice pack on your face while we wait." Holly sits next to Gail on the bathroom floor and hands over an ice pack. Another thing Gail didn't think she would be doing again, the first one was coming back to the mansion _since it worked out so well the last time_ , the second being sad on the bathroom floor of this mansion. Gail and Holly sit in silence for a while.

Gail breaks the quiet by muttering, "I don't' remember you from last year, are you new?"

"Uh, yeah…I needed a break from my ordinary life and a colleague recommended I apply to be the on hand doctor for this season, so I did, and yeah. But I watched your season last year, and I'm sorry for what happened to you."

"Me too, but maybe it was for the best. Holly, I'm like a cat. I'm very good at climbing trees, but the minute that I get up there, I have no idea what to do, I want to get down, but I don't know how to do that, so I create an emergency situation to get out of it. But this time Nick beat me to it."

"He got out of the tree first?"

"Of our relationship," whispers Gail.

"Yeah I used to be like that, but it turns out I didn't like men."

Gail removes the ice pack and prods her face. "I don't think I like men either."

Holly says, "I mean I'm a lesbian."

Gail pushes herself up off the bathroom floor, examines her appearance in the mirror, makes sure there's not too much damage, and heads towards the door and says, "Oh I mean I hate people."

Holly continues to sit on the floor and smirks at Gail's retreating figure.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again Gail finds herself pausing before she enters the main room. She can hear the guys discussing what just happened and whether or not she will continue on this 'journey.' She sees Chris Harrisun walking her way; he stops a safe distance away to get a good look at Gail. "I have a feeling Dov will not be getting the first impression rose," says Chris. Gail can't help but smile and let out a sad laugh as she agrees. "But, honestly, how are you feeling? Are you OK?"

Gail clears her throat and straightens up, "Yeah, I'm fine. I mean I've been hit harder. You can barely even tell I was hit."

"With that out of the way, I have an even more important question… Are you going to continue on here, try and find your soul mate?"

"Of course, nothing has changed; I just need to be more on my toes. They seem like a great group of guys and I am still more than willing to sit down with them and see if I have a connection with any of them."

"Well ok then, if you need anything I'm here for you. Also if your face hurts later we can get the doctor for you. Let's get you back in there." Chris hurriedly pushes Gail into the main room where all the guys are.

Gail walks into the room and the guys look up kind of surprised to see Gail. Dov quickly stands up and rushes over ready to apologize. Gail notices his actions and holds up her hand to tell him to stop. Dov looks around at all the men and his face drops, he knows he blew his chance. Gail looks down at her feet and then up, "this changes nothing, I came here to find love, me getting punched in the face does not change anything. I would like all of you to continue to be open with me, if you have any concerns please tell me. I will be asking tough questions, feel free to ask me some too. There will still be a rose ceremony at the end of the night, I hope to see you all there, but I understand if you do not wish to stay."

The men all look around at each other rather nervously. Michael finally says, "If you say it's all good, then it's all good."

Gail gives a reassuring smile and says, "thank you." The cocktail party continues, Gail is milling about trying to spend enough time with all the contestants. She bumps into Brad W, who pulls her to one side of the room. "I just wanted to make sure that you're all right."

"That's very kind of you, yes I'm fine. Honestly, I've been hit by far worse, perks of the job. So, a teacher from Cape Breton?"

"Yes. I wouldn't trade my job for the world; I love all the kids, and enjoy seeing them grow educationally, socially. It's just such a rewarding career."

"That's great! So do you want kids some day?"

"Yeah, some day. Right now it's like I have 25 kids for eight hours a day, but after 4pm they're somebody else's' problem. But yes one day I would like to start a family of my own, have a child as my responsibility after 4pm."

Gail chuckles. "That's nice, what grade do you teach?"

"I teach grade six, so 11 / 12 year olds. Almost teenagers, but not quite there yet. They say the funniest things sometimes, and can come up with the craziest stories, like…"

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a minute?" asks Jarred.

Meanwhile, back in the house, Dov is getting his hand checked out by the doctor. Holly is poking and prodding his hand to make sure nothing feels broken. Dov holds out his hand for Holly and says trying to lighten the mood, "You should see the other guy."

Holly mumbles, "Believe me, I have."

"I can't believe I just did that. Do you think I still have a chance with her?" asks Dov.

Holly lets go of his hand, "It's hard to say, it's a terrible first impression though."

Dov groans and walks away.

Back outside… Gail thanks Brad W and walks away with Jarred, who leads her to the outdoor fireplace. "Who's your favourite hockey team?"

"Oh, I don't really do sports."  
"Come on, you're Canadian, you have to have a favourite hockey team. Like mine is the Winnipeg Jets, but I'm kind of partial to them because I used to play for them."

"Well that's nifty, so you've travelled all over North America playing hockey. What's the most memorable thing you've seen done while travelling?"

"I've seen a lot of fans break out into fights when some iffy plays were called, but the probably craziest thing I've seen is when we were in Detroit, some fan threw an octopus on the ice, they had to stop the game and repair the ice. So, who's your favourite hockey team?"

"Wow, well that's definitely interesting, why do they do that?"

"I don't know; who's your favourite team?"

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a minute?" asks Brad M.

"We were just in the middle of something," Jarred starts to say. "It was lovely chatting with you Jarred," says Gail as she walks off with Brad M.

The two are sitting on the front steps of the mansion, near the fountain when Brad M pulls out two pennies. "Whoa. Where did you get those?" asks Gail. "Canada got rid of the penny, most people I know when they come across a penny they just throw them in the trash."

"Well I thought we could throw them in the fountain and make wishes."

"Or…we could throw them in the trash," insists Gail.

"Um…if you want to."

"No, let's throw them in the fountain, here we go." They both throw their pennies in the fountain and each made a wish. "Where did you find the pennies?"

"At a construction site, I work as a contractor in Scarborough. When we start to dig we unearth a lot of…stuff. At this particular place someone had buried a tin of pennies, so my crew and I each took a couple, because like you said, pennies are hard to come by."

"Have you ever been in love?" Gail asks.

Brad M appears mildly confused at the abrupt subject change but responds, "Once in high school with the girl I was dating. We were inseparable, everyone thought we were going to get married, and it definitely looked that way. But once we reached college, we realized we were too young, and we were becoming different people. I still see her from time to time, but we are better off as friends."

"Aw, high school sweet hearts. And you haven't been in love since then?"

"No, I mean I've dated other women, but the feelings just weren't there. But that's why I'm here, to find love with you, if you find it with me."

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a minute?" asks George. With that Gail walks away with George and head to a bench.

Meanwhile…elsewhere in the mansion the guys are taking. "Have you talked to her yet?" asks Liam.

Jarred says, "Yes, but our time was cut short. Do you feel confident tonight?"

"I don't know man, she could send anyone home. How about that Dov guy? What's his problem?" asks George.

Back outside…once they get settled Gail asks, "What made you come on this show? What made you want to take this," Gail internally cringes, "journey?"

"I would like to find love; I want to find the person I spend the rest of my life with. At home in Victoria I spend most of my time going to school and studying, it's tough to take time out of my schedule to date, so I decided to come here and see if it would work out with us."

"So you decided to take some time off of school to come here and meet me? I'm flattered, but there must be other girls near you to try and date?" Gail inquires.

"Oh for sure, but none of them are you."

Gail internally rolls her eyes and is saved from saying anything rude with, "Hi, sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a minute?" asks Brad B. Gail quickly gets up and follows Brad B out front where she see a skateboard. "Have you ever ridden a skateboard before?"

"Uh…yeah, once or twice, why?"

"I'm a professional skateboarder; I go to a lot of tournaments throughout North America and occasionally in Europe to compete. So I brought my board to practice while I'm here and I figured I could show you some moves and possibly teach you. So here I'll help you on the board." Brad B holds out his hand for Gail to take.

Gail looks down at her feet, back at Brad B, back down at her heeled feet and says, "I don't think it's a good idea to ride in high heels."

"How about I hold you while you ride," Gail gives him a skeptical look. "Think of it as a trust exercise."

"OK, let's try it." Gail steps onto the skateboard with Brad B holding her. It works well for fifteen seconds, but then the board goes out from under Gail and she is off the board. "Well, that went as well as I expected," Gail says.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a minute?" asks Shane.

"Please," responds Gail as she walks away. They head towards the pool. "There aren't many Americans on this show, what made you want to find love in Canada?"

"I just figured why not? Who says love has to stop at the border? What if my soul mate is you?" asks Shane.

"What if it's not?"

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Alright. You said you're a lawyer," Shane nods, "many lawyers in Detroit?"

"Tons. The majority of our billboards advertise for a lawyer's office. I work for a bigger firm so work is easy to come by. I've been working there for a few years now and sometimes get to choose which case to work on."

"I bet you've had some interesting cases."

"Plenty, but working on more cases makes it difficult to find love, so I figured give this a chance." Shane says with a hopeful smile.

Gail says goodbye to Shane and walks away on her own. Chris Harrisun approaches her and asks, "Are you ready for the rose ceremony?"

"Definitely."

"I see you didn't hand out the first impression rose."

"Yup. I'd rather have them all go into the rose ceremony on equal ground."

"OK, I'll go gather the guys."

The guys are standing in two tiered rows. Gail enters the room and looks at them all and says, "Thank you for taking time out of your lives to give this a shot. Thank you for being open. There is nothing personal to those I do not choose I just didn't feel a connection. Ok." Dramatic music begins. "Jack." Jack comes forward. "Will you accept this rose?"

"Yes." Jack is beaming from ear to ear, he gives Gail a little hug, and heads back to his spot.

"Brad W." Brad W comes forward. "Will you accept this rose?"

"Of course." Brad W gives Gail a hug and heads back to his spot.

"Lester." Lester comes forward. "Lester, will you accept this rose?"

"Always." Lester gives Gail a hug and heads back to his spot.

Gail gives out sixteen more roses. Chris Harrisun reenters the room. "Gentlemen, this is the final rose, if you do not receive a rose please say your goodbyes and go. Gail…when you're ready."

"Dov." Dov is beaming as he walks forward. "Don't make me regret this. Dov, will you accept this rose?"

"Yes." Dov heads back to his spot. Five men leave. All the men circle around Gail with glasses of champagne and they toast their good fortune.

Gail finally slips. She is getting ready for bed when she hears a knock at her door, thinking it's Chris Harrisun she opens it. "Oh, hi Dr. Stewart," Gail sounds puzzled, "Can I help you with something?"

"It's Holly, and I'm here to check on your face." She says smiling. "How you feeling, any headaches?"

"No, no headaches. But I am going to get a slight bruise."

"Yeah." Holly grabs Gail's face and turns it to the light to get a better look. "It must have been a harder hit then you said." Gail's expression on her face looks anxious, Holly notices so she lets go of Gail's face and puts her hands at her side. "But you should be fine …How did the rest of your night go?"

"I got pestered for not having a favourite hockey team, I threw a penny in a fountain, and…oh… I am almost fell of a skateboard when someone was supposed to be holding on to me, but it's ok though because I met a very nice lawyer in case something even worse happens here and I ever want to sue."

"I'm sure the show has really good lawyers for the various incidents that have happened on this show. A lot of people get hurt, like more than I thought. You've already been hurt and it's only the first night."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Gail pauses and thinks for a moment. "Did you want to come inside for a bit?"

"Um…" Gail stifles a yawn, which Holly notices and smiles, "Thanks but maybe another time."

"Ok, see you around. Thanks for checking on me."

"No problem Gail. Have a nice night," Holly says as she walks away.


	3. Chapter 3

_Cameras On_

"Waking up today, I feel excited. I met a lot of great guys last night and I am excited to see where this can go." Gail is voicing her thoughts while looking out a window holding a cup of coffee. The camera angle gives a profile view. "I already feel I might have a connection with some people and I am eager to explore the possibilities."

 _Cameras Off_

"Cut! That was great Gail; I think you should post pone the dates to give your face another day to heal. We wouldn't want you to get even more hurt." The producer explains.

"Fine by me, I could use a day of nothing. Just sit back and think," decides Gail as she stars to remove some of the makeup that was being used to cover her bruised face.

"Alright then, it's settled, you spend the day relaxing and we will start the dates with the guys tomorrow. Let me just call Mr. Harrisun and explain what we've decided."

Gail nods, grabs a pair of sunglasses, and heads outside to check out the house she will be borrowing for the next little while. She walks all around the property and spots a couple of loungers away from everything else; she decides this will be her spot to essentially hideaway for the rest of the day. She lies back on the one looking up at the sky watching the clouds go by. _I could get used to this_ , thinks Gail. _There is something very calming and peaceful about cloud watching._ Gail is caught up watching the heavens, enjoying the beautiful late autumn day and doesn't hear someone approach her.

"Hey! How's it goin'?"

"Good."

"What are you up to?"

"Cloud watching, I find it rather fascinating, how the clouds just casually shift shapes and continue on their way. I've always thought they looked comfortable and I could just lay on one and I would float away somewhere."

Holly takes a seat in the other lounger and looks up and says, "Yeah, they look like they would be fun to sit on, but clouds are essentially clumps of fog in the sky, just tiny drops of water, it wouldn't be able to support your weight."

"You just crushed one of my childhood dreams of taking a cloud for a ride." Gail says with mock hurt.

"Sorry?" Holly says sincerely. Holly looks around where they are and asks, "Why are we out here?"

"I don't know why you are here, but I am here because I didn't want to be bothered by others, so I figured to go to these chairs far away from anything else to hide."

Holly gets up to leave, "Oh…sorry I didn't mean to bother you, I just saw you by yourself and I figured I'd come over and say hi…"

"No, it's ok, you can stay. What are you doing out here anyways?"

"I was going stir crazy, so I was out for a walk, but I didn't want to get too far in case I was needed so I was also sort of exploring the various properties we have access to."

"So what have you discovered, encountered anyone else and crush their childhood dreams or just mine?"

"Nope, just yours," says Holly with a shake of her head. "I only like to crush one dream a day, and lucky for you it was yours."

"Don't you mean unlucky for me?" Gail asks scrunching up her face.

"No, if I hadn't told you about how unsafe it would be to sit on a cloud you could have gotten seriously hurt." Holly says with mock seriousness.

"Thanks…I think."

"No problem, that's what I'm here for, to be the in-house doctor and dream crusher."

"Makes sense. Anyways, how did you get so much time off work, to be able to just drop everything and join the cast for three months?"

"Well, my contract was up so I was kind of between jobs, when I heard about this opportunity and I figured why not, so here I am. How about you, this is twice now that you would have to take extended periods of time off of work," wonders Holly.

"Oh, my parent are high up in the Toronto Police force, and since this was kind of my mother's idea, she approved my time off," Gail responds and mimics Holly, "so here I am." Gail still curious about this new person can't help but ask, "Did you leave anyone behind?"

"No, I'm single with no children, which made the decision to come here even easier, I have no one who relies on me. But, one day I would like that, have someone rely on me and to have children."

Gail nods her head in agreement and says, "Good luck finding any single women here, just a lot of single men…hopefully."

Holly bursts into laughter, "Who would come on this show to find love if they were still in a relationship with someone else?"

"You would be surprised. It seems every season someone's fidelity is questioned, for me it's not a matter of if but who is it going to be and when is it going to become a topic."

"Wow…I guess I should watch this show more often…I've really only seen your season."

"Or don't, it gets kind of predictable."

"Every year someone gets left at the altar?" Holly questions.

"No, that was a one of, but in that sense the relationships rarely do work out, you watch them fall in love and shortly after the show is done you see in the tabloids the couple has split" says Gail.

"And yet you're here," ponders Holly.

Gail now becomes defensive, "I am here to find love, it happened for me last time, so I know the process works. I want to find that one person I will spend the rest of my life with. Just because it didn't work out for Nick and I doesn't mean it won't work out for me and whoever I choose in the end."

Silence engulfs the two as they continue to look up at the sky. After a while Holly apologizes, "Sorry, I didn't mean to question your decision to come back on the show…"

"It's ok," Gail quietly mutters, _I'm getting tires of people questioning my decision to be here._ Some more time goes by when Gail finally asks, "Are you going to look for love while you are here, you know being a 'bachelorette' and all?"

"Shouldn't you be on a date or something? Ya know, interacting with the guys or something?" Holly asks trying to avoid the question entirely.

"I've been given the day off," shrugs Gail, accepting Holly's deflection. She adjusts her sunglasses, looks at Holly and says, "Speaking of which, I think I am going to take a nap now, so…"

"Oh…" says Holly taking the hint and getting up, "I will continue on my walk then."

"Have fun, Dr. Dream Crusher," Gail says as she adjusts her cot to better lie on it. Holly walks away but turns back to see Gail peacefully sleeping and smiles to herself as she continues on.

 _Cameras On_

Chris Harrisun is explaining to the guys how the show works, "There will be three dates this week, two group dates and one one on one date. Not everyone will get a date this week. There will be a rose handed out on every date. Make sure you use your time wisely to create a connection with Gail. With that," he takes a date card out of his pocket and drops it on the table and turns to leave.

One of the guys jumps up to read the card, "Michael, Jarred, Brad W, George, Lester, Jack, Shane, Mark, Erik…Try not to blow you window of (h)opportunity. Gail."

"Ooooh…." The guys all start to talk, "what do you think we will be doing?"

The guys get ready and take a limo to their date. They get out and look around for Gail. They see her standing outside a brewery. Gail greets the guys with a smile on her face hugging the odd one and says, "Welcome to the brewery, today we are going to learn about brewing beer and try it ourselves. Come on let's check out the place." She takes two of the guys offered arms and leads them into the building. They wander around the brewery listening to a guide; afterwards they are led to the barrels to test what they've learned. After some taste testing the guys start to get some one on one time with Gail. Erik pulls Gail away first. "Did you learn a lot today?"

"Yes, there are actually some similarities between making wine and making beer, we at times use similar techniques. I still prefer wine though," Erik informs Gail in a snobbish way. He then goes to explain why he plants roses with his grape vines to try an impress Gail with his wine knowledge.

Jarred steals Gail from Erik and the two start to discuss some of their favourite beers they've had. "How are you feeling today, your face looks better."

"Thanks…" Gail says and rolls her eyes.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that," Jarred starts to back pedal. "You're very pretty, I just meant…" Just then Mark appears to take Gail away. "Could you give us one more minute?" asks Jarred.

Gail stands up and takes Mark's offered arm and says to Jarred, "Don't be bitter, at yeast you had a chance." Gail internally laughs at her joke and decides she will use as many beer puns as possible. The two walk away and sit on a bench, "I didn't get to talk to you much on the first night, where are you from?"

"I live in Lethbridge, Alberta; and I work as a plumber with my brothers."

"That's nice, you get to spend a fair amount of time with your siblings. You guys must be close then, if you work together."

"Yes, I mean we bicker now and again, but all families do."

"Yeah," Gail thinking back to all the times her and Steve fought and still fight. "But you always can rely on each other, hopefully," think Gail aloud. Lester appears and Gail says, "Wheat love for you to join us."

Lester looks between the two and takes a seat to join them, "So what are we talking about?" Lester and Mark start to talk and Gail slips away.

 _Back at the mansion_

The guys hear a knock on the door and some yell, "date card!" One goes to retrieve it and bring the invitation back to the group. He opens it and reads, "Wallace. Let's take this to new heights. Gail."

"Oooh, first one on one! How do you feel bud?" someone asks.

"This is awesome, I'm already excited. I can't wait to spend time just with Gail," says Wallace as he gets up to leave.

 _Back on the date_

Gail has the date rose in her hand, "I've enjoyed spending time with all of you today, but I want to give this to the person I learned the most about today. George, will you accept this rose?"

"Of course," says a beaming George. With that, Gail says goodnight and leaves knowing she has to do this all over again tomorrow.

The next day Gail greets Wallace at the foot of the CN tower. He immediately hugs Gail, much to her annoyance. He's grinning from ear to ear and says, "I'm so excited that you picked me and I can't wait to see what we're doing."

"I'm glad you're here too. Today we are going to check out Toronto from the CN tower. Let's go." The two make their way inside and head to the elevator. Normally the tower would be packed with tourists but not today. As they are walking Gail says, "tell me a little more about you, you're a medical sales rep from Quebec City, have you ever been to Toronto before?"

"Yes I have, just for one day; I came for a hockey game though, so I didn't do many touristy things like go up the CN tower. So I'm excited to share this experience with you." Wallace says.

They spend the day enjoying the view and watching the sunset over the city. As they are have a dinner above the busy city they start to discuss what they hope to find at the end of this. Wallace says, "I hope to find a wife who I can rely on and makes me happy. Someone who makes me laugh and stands by me."

"Those are all great qualities, and I think I'm looking for very similar attributes." Gail picks up the rose that's been sitting on the table. "I've had a great time today; we've seen some spectacular views."

Wallace has a dreamy look in his eyes and interrupts with, "I think I'm still seeing spectacular views."

Gail scrunches her face and continues, "but I can't give you this rose tonight, I don't feel a connection. Sorry." They wish each other well in their search for love and go their separate ways.

Later, Gail's facing the camera voicing her thoughts, "I felt bad sending Wallace home so early. It's tough, but I'm here to find the love of my life and I just didn't feel a spark."

 _Back at the mansion_

Some of the guys are in the kitchen. Michael is watching Chris and Brad B show Scott how to get the center out of a toonie. Michael chimes in, "I hear if you freeze it first it's easier."

The men hear 'uh-oh's coming from the other room. Someone yells out, "they just took Wallace's suitcase." Another declares, "She's serious, she's not messing around. She wants to find love. I respect that."

On the next date Gail takes eight different bachelors to Algonquin Park. The group started off walking along the paths but then headed to one of the lakes. They then got into canoes to paddle around. Brad B, Chris, and Dov are in one canoe, Alex, Kyle, and Liam are in the second canoe, and Brad M, Craig, and Gail are in the last canoe. They are all just paddling around staying in a close grouping when one of the guys suggests they have a race. They are all lined up and decide first one to the big willow tree is the winner. It was a pretty evenly matched race, closer to the end Dov's canoe starts to lead and they get to the willow tree first. The three guys are happy and start to celebrate by high fiving one another, which starts to rock the canoe, and unfortunately spills them into the water. The other two canoes start to laugh. Gail observes, "looks like the rest of us are the real winners!" Everyone continues to laugh as the three soaked men push their canoe back to shore and try to dry off.

The rest head back to shore and continue on their nature walk. The other three are left to dry off and catch up when they're ready. On the walk Kyle and Alex are walking on either side of Gail. Alex is a baker and is talking about some of the more interesting creations he has made. "But my favourite are the cookies. There is something about the smell of cookies in the oven that I like."

"Too many sweets are not good for you," chimes in Kyle, in an accusatory tone, "I have done one too many fillings on adults who have eaten a lot of desserts. But that's the life of a dentist; my personal favourite procedure is the root canal."

"What?!" questions Gail, who was barely paying attention to the conversation around her. "That sounds like torture, why would that be your favourite?"

"It's kind of like a patient's last option, they weren't brushing their teeth well enough after eating sweets and now I have to come in with the drills," Kyle tries to brag.

"Sometimes it's not because of sugar," Alex says, "It could be caused by other reasons like acidic saliva."

"It's mostly candy, you doughnut!" Kyle declares.

"Whoa! Did you just make doughnut a bad word? No one disrespects a doughnut!" says Gail. "You should not make a delicious, perfect doughnut into a bad word…ever. Geese!" Gail picks up the pace to walk with someone else. Kyle tries to catch up to her, when he trip over a root and falls off the path. He quickly gets up and brushes himself off but Gail is already talking to someone else.

They get to a clearing and sit around an already made fire as the sun has started to set. The others have rejoined them and are grateful for the fire. They are all toasting marshmallows and telling silly ghost stories when Kyle walks over and asks to talk to Gail. Gail simply nods her head still looking at the flames of the fire. The two go to sit under some lantern light away from the group. Gail looks at Kyle and gasps, "Uh-oh!"

Kyle looks at her alarmed, "What's wrong, what's 'uh oh'?"

"You're face, it's all red! What did you eat, are you allergic to something?"

"Nothing. It does feel a little itchy now that you mention it." Kyle shares.

"I think we need the doctor" Gail tells the camera person. The camera person takes out their phone to inform someone. Gail and Kyle sit in silence and a few minutes later Holly appears with her first aid kit.

"Oh!" Holly says without thinking when she gets a look at Kyle's face for the first time.

"Is it that bad?" wonders Kyle.

"Umm…no," Holly lies, "that looks like poison ivy, did you touch something you shouldn't have?"

"I don't think so," Kyle blushes and looks over at Gail, "I fell off the path at one point and probably fell into the poison ivy then."

"Sounds likely," Holly nods, "luckily I keep a fully stalked"

"Lunchbox" Gail mutters.

Holly shoots her a grin and continues, "first aid kit." She pulls out some ointment for Kyle and instructs him what to do.

Gail decides to head back to the guys and informs them. "Hi, so Kyle has poison ivy. No one get too close to Kyle. We are going to end the date here; the cars will take you back to the mansion. I'll see you all tomorrow at the rose ceremony." The guys get up one by one to hug Gail and leave. When all the guys are gone Gail sits in one of the now vacated chairs to watch the fire. The cameras cut with Gail staring into the flames.

 _Cameras Off_

"OK Gail, we're done filming for the day," a producer says. "Are you ready to go back to the house?"

"No, if it's fine I would like a few minutes here," Gail responds.

"That's fine; someone will stay here with you to drive you back. Goodnight." The producer helps pack up the gear and leaves.

Gail is mesmerized by the flames and the sparks. She's thinking of her past week and who she'll be sending home tomorrow, deciding who she needs to talk to in order to make the best decisions. She feels she has it figured out and is happy with her prospects. Someone sits down near her; Gail doesn't even look up knowing who it's going to be, "It's pretty here."

"Yeah, it is. I feel like I'm in a Group of Seven painting, especially with all the fall colours. Did you know that they were allowed to ride the railways for free so that they would travel the country painting Canada's landscapes to entice people to the national parks?"

"I did not know that…nerd," Gail says with a shy grin on her face.

Holly smiles, "Well, they did. Did you have a nice day?"

"Did you; were you able to go for a better walk today instead of trespassing into other people's backyards?"

Holly laughs, "yes, thank you. This park is beautiful with lovely trails and picturesque lakes. How was your week?"

"Fine, there are some great guys here. I've had some enlightening conversations and have learned a lot, either about the guys or random facts. Like, did you know they plant roses along rows of grapes in vineyards to help watch for pests?"

"Actually, they used to, now that's just for aesthetics," Holly shares, blushing wondering if she said too much.

"Hmmm…well nerd…I think I'm ready to go if you are." Gail starts to get up not waiting for a response, puts out the fire, and walks toward the cars with Holly following closely behind.

They get into the car and Holly says, "that was a beautiful day, the only way to make it better would be if it were summer and we could have gone swimming in the lake."

Gail who's been staring out the window says, "next time we'll come back in the summer time to go swimming."

Holly smiles at the idea of her and Gail being friends after this whole show is over. They lapse into a comfortable silence. Holly just thinks Gail is tired, but Gail is stuck in her head running everything over in her head. Holly drops Gail outside her house; Gail thanks Holly and gets out the car wishing her a good night but shuts the door before Holly can respond. Holly watches Gail disappear into the house and heads to her place.

 _Cameras On_

The cocktail party starts with Gail walking into the mansion all dressed up to be with the guys who are back in their sports jackets. She is immediately handed a glass of something and has to give the obligatory toast. Immediately after she takes a sip and is stolen by one of the guys. Two hours pass, with Gail going from conversation to conversation. Chris Harrisun pulls her aside to prepare her for the rose ceremony.

"So…Gail…how was your week?" Chris enquires with a small grin on his lips.

"I had a great time, went on some amazing dates, unfortunately I sent Wallace home mid-way through, but I just wasn't feeling it."

"That's what this is all about," Chris agrees with her choice, "When you feel the need to send someone home, do it."

Gail nods. She then heads into the room where all the guys are lined up to start handing out roses. She pauses, takes up a rose, and says, "Liam." Liam approaches Gail. "Liam, will you accept this rose?"

Liam says 'yes', kisses Gail on the cheek, and heads back to his spot.

"Scott." Scott walks over to Gail. "Scott, will you accept this rose?"

"Definitely," Scott gives Gail a hug and walks back to his spot.

Gail gives out ten more roses. Chris Harrisun comes into the room and says, "Gail, gentlemen this is the final rose." Chris then exits the room.

There are six guys without roses, Gail looks over the guys one final time, picks up the final rose and says, "Jarred."

Jarred lets out a happy laugh and gladly accepts the rose and heads back to his spot. The guys without roses say goodbye and take to the exit. The remainder suitors are given a glass of champagne and have all surrounded Gail, who then has to give another uplifting speech but is cut off by Shane who raises his glass and says, "to continuing this journey and creating relationships." They all clink their glasses and Gail notes _I should keep him around to make my toasts._

Gail reflects on who she has left: Liam, Scott, Chris, Shane, Brad M, Brad B, Brad Z, Jarred, Dov, Jack, Brad W, George, Mark, Alex, and Craig. Gail is happy with her prospects. She sent home Wallace (at the CN tower), Erik (the wine guy), Michael ('lightning' the meteorologist), Lester, and Kyle (the guy who disrespects doughnuts and has poison ivy). She is looking forward to next week.

* * *

Thanks for reading and commenting.


	4. Chapter 4

_Cameras On_

*riiing* Sounds of movement. *riiiing* Gail answers her phone, "Hello?"

"Hi Gail…it's Chloe Price.…"

Gail, "ok?" Gail pauses waiting for her unknown caller to continue. Silence. "I'm sorry, who is this?"

"Chloe Price." Chloe says. " … We need to talk about Dov."

Not sure what this is regarding, Gail decides to hear Chloe out.

"So, Dov and I have been dating for a while now. We met at work, we're both police officers." Chloe's voice sounds somber, but switches to upbeat when she brings up, "Actually I think you and I have met before. Are you related to the Pecks higher up in the police force?" Chloe questions.

"Yes I am, but let's get back to where you said you and Dov are dating before we become friends, bonding over the fact that we both somewhat dated Dov."

"Oh yeah, sorry," her voice returning to calm, "so Dov and I have been dating and we were actually talking about marriage, but then he took off, no word, nothing. I thought he went on an undercover mission, but then I find out he's on this show trying to date you. I mean I remember Dov and Chris talking about applying to the show, but I thought Dov was just joking around… apparently not."

Gail interrupts the long winded caller, "Hold on Chloe. You're telling me you and Dov are together."

"Yes, and…"

Gail interrupts again, "and you're planning on marrying the guy?"

"Yes, and…"

Gail cuts her off, "why would he come on the show then if he's going to marry you? What did you say your name was again?"

"Um…Chloe Price…we were talking about marriage, it's not like we set a date or anything…"

"Still, if you're about to make that kind of commitment you should not be on this show…" Gail says starting to sound sad and upset. "I'm going to go talk to him and figure this out. Thanks for calling."

"You're wel" Gail ends the phone call.

Gail facing the camera speaking her thoughts: "I can't believe this is happening. Why would someone do this? If you come on this show, you are saying you are single and ready for marriage. I feel bad for this Chloe person, I wonder if she'll take him back?"

Camera person: "would you take him back?"

Anger seeping into Gail's voice, "No, why would I take him back, he's essentially been lying this whole time!"

 _Meanwhile in the mansion…_

Some of the guys are sitting around in the common room. Brad B asks, "So, how are we feeling this week boys?"

George admits, "I feel like we made real progress last week and I feel we left off at a good place where we will be able to pick our relationship back up again this week and continue working on it."

Jack opens his eyes wide at the sheer eloquence of George's feelings, _not_. The men continue to discuss their relationships when Gail walks into the room. The guys look surprised to see Gail, Brad M recovers first and jumps up to greet Gail, "Hi! It's great to see you, what are you doing here?"

Gail gives Brad M a hug and faces the group and asks, "does anyone know where Dov is?"

Craig speaks up, "I think he was lounging by the pool, why?"

"I just need to talk to him, thanks." Gail quickly makes her way outside and leaves the guys alone again.

"Lucky bastard," declares Jarred, "I bet she's here to take him on a date. Gosh I wish that were me." The guys nod their heads in agreement.

Outside Gail spots Dov and heads over to where he's sitting, luckily he's by himself. "Hi Dov," Gail announces herself and watches Dov jump a little, startling him out of his thoughts.

"I was just thinking about you," says Dov with a smile on his face as he gets up to hug Gail. Gail waves him off as she sits on one of the loungers facing Dov who has taken Gail's cue to sit opposite her.

"I've just been given some interesting information and I was hoping you'd be able to help me sort it out," Gail says and looks at Dov as he nods eagerly. "But, first I'd like to know a little bit more about you, why did you come on this show?"

"I wanted to find the love of my life, and I want to see if it is you."

Gail nods, not completely convinced. "Ok, what has been your longest relationship, how did it end, why did it end?"

Dov looks at Gail quizzically seeing she is not messing around and answers, "I didn't see my last relationship going far, so I ended it before I came on this show."

Gail not sure who to believe, the morning's chipper caller or the guy who accidentally hit her, so she asks, "what was her name?"

Dov stutters and says "…Martha?"

Gail has decided who to believe, "you sure it wasn't Chloe? And are you sure that relationship has ended?"

Dov know looks scared and quickly tries to back track, "oh yeah, Chloe, I kind of forgot about her."

"You kind of forgot about the girl you were planning on marrying? Wow. Well you can go now, let me show you out."

"That's it?" asks Dov. "No second chance? Just a goodbye?"

"Believe me, you wasted your second chance," informs Gail as she gets up to start ushering Dov to the front of the mansion. "You will be lucky if you can salvage your relationship with Chloe, if I was her I wouldn't take you back."

The two are now out front and Dov is trying to plead his case but Gail is not listening, she just opens the car door, allows Dov to enter, and shuts the door to an exasperated Dov.

Gail walks back inside to explain to the guys what just happened, "I just sent Dov home. He still has a girlfriend he was potentially going to marry…" A couple of the guys try to get up to comfort Gail but she waves them off. "There are no dates planned for today, you guys should enjoy the pool today, looks like it's going to be a nice day. There is a group date tomorrow, so I'll see some of you then. Bye."

Gail heads out the mansion's front door and starts to walk home.

 _Cameras Off_

Gail mumbling to herself, "I can't believe it, why did I keep him?" Gail is almost home when she hears footsteps coming up from behind her. She quickly picks up her pace for fear of it being one of the guys who wants to talk about Dov. Then she hears a soft, "hey." Gail lets out a "phew" and says, "oh it's just you."

Holly lets out a laugh, "who did you think was following you?"

"One of the guys," Gail mumbles.

"And that would have been a bad thing?" asks Holly with a head tilt.

"I'm not ready to talk to them about it yet." Holly not knowing what Gail is referring to stares at her quizzically. "I just sent Dov home…he still has a girlfriend…he was planning on marrying her." Gail sighs, enters her house and leaves the door open for Holly to follow. Gail walks right into the kitchen grabs the tequila bottle and looks at the clock, 12:04pm, ' _perfect'_ she thinks and pours herself a shot and downs it. She looks at Holly, gestures to the bottle asking if she would like a shot. Holly shakes her head 'no', Gail shrugs and pours herself another shot. She sighs again and starts to play with the now empty glass, "I can relate to the girlfriend, being on the verge of marrying someone and then all of the sudden *poof* your whole life changes." Gail pours Holly a shot this time and slides it to the doctor, Gail fills her own glass and the two down their shots.

Holly sits on one of the kitchen's bar stools and watches Gail pace in the tiny kitchen. "It must still be hard," Holly says trying to get Gail to voice her thoughts about what is truly bugging her.

Gail scoffs "like you wouldn't believe. I know I keep telling people I'm fine but it still hurts, you know?" Holly nods and Gail is about to continue when Holly's phone rings.

"Dr. Stewart?" Gail leans on the counter watching Holly talk on the phone while listening in. "Yes, I'll be there in a minute." Holly hangs up the phone and turns to Gail, "I have to go, one of the guys had an accident around the pool and I'm told there is a lot of blood." Gail scrunches up her face at the visual. "But, I'll come back to check on you," she points to the bottle and says, "don't drink too much of that while I'm gone." Holly heads to the door and shoots over her shoulder, "Doctor's orders." Laughing at her own joke she shuts the door and heads back to the mansion.

"Nerd" mutters Gail with a smile on her face as she heads to the sink to pour herself a glass of water. She turns her back to the sink and sinks to the floor. Wondering about some of the more major decisions she has made recently. She carefully sips her water as she ponders not realizing how much time has passed, when Holly walks into her kitchen.

"What are you doing down there? How much more did you drink?"

Gail who didn't hear her come in looks up at Holly and sees concern written all over her face. Gail says "None, I've just been sitting here thinking."

"You didn't even hear me knock, so I just let myself in," says a worried Holly.

"Wow, you really got that trespassing thing down pat, first people's backyards now their houses. What's next?" Gail says with faux seriousness.

"Probably back to backyards, one of the cameramen has a trampoline in their yard he said I could use anytime. Maybe I'll even let you join me." Holly answers with a smile on her face.

"If it's Stan, no. That guy gives me the creeps." Gail says with a shutter.

Holly laughs and sits on the kitchen floor across from Gail and decides to tell her about the accident. "Apparently the guys thought it was a good idea to have obstacle course races around the pool, one of them slipped and got a huge cut up his shin, so I had to sew him up. No big deal."

"Which one got hurt?" asks Gail, a little bit of concern in her voice.

"Um…the one with the swoopy hair?"

"You don't remember his name?"

"There are still so many of them, I don't know how you do it, how any of the bachelors or bachelorettes do it."

"It's easy you have to come up with little tricks like: cuddly cop Chris or chiseled carpenter Craig."

"You have nick names for all of them? That's impressive that you remembered them all."

"Sort of, you need to be able to memorize all sorts of things in my line of work so it's not that difficult to remember all their names." Gail brushes off the compliment and continues to stare in front of her, falling back into her thoughts. Silence falls on the two and Holly finally breaks it.

"Did you like that guy that much?" questions Holly referring to Dov, confusion written all over her face.

"It's not that, it's…am I making a mistake trying this all over again? If I get rejected again it will devastate me," explains Gail, completely shocked at how candid she is being with Holly.

Holly not knowing what to say knows that only Gail can answer that question for herself decides to change the topic. "Well you predicted it; someone was still in a relationship. Any other predictions?"

"Someone is going to tell me they love me too early, someone is going to be here for the wrong reasons, and someone is going to have a kid and be afraid to tell me," responds Gail ticking off each point on her fingers. Clearly these thoughts have been running through her head all day, proof being the speed she was able to produce them.

Holly looks into Gail's eyes and says, "maybe none of these will come true." Holly tries to reassure Gail.

"Maybe" says Gail as she gets up, "I'm going to go watch a movie, you're welcome to join."

Holly looks at the time and stands saying, "I should go check on swoopy hair guy, make sure the stitches are still in place."

"If my lights are still on when you come back this way…"

"Sure I can stop by again," Holly seeing that Gail clearly wants some company.

"OK" Gail shows Holly to the door. Holly once again heads back to the mansion with heavy thoughts of her own, not sure what to make of her new friend. By the time she's done and is about to open Gail's front door, all the lights go out, and she continues on her way to her place. Ready to put this day behind her Holly heads straight to bed to get some much needed rest.

 _Cameras On_

The show opens with scenic views across the city and a voice over by Gail, "I feel much better today, I feel ready to continue learning about these guys, and what's a better way to do that then to see them in a little competition?"

The men exit a limo all in workout gear. Jack facing the camera says, "I have no idea what we are up to today, but I'm definitely happy to get out of the mansion and spend some time with Gail."

Gail is standing outside of the ACC and watches the approaching guys. "Welcome! We are going to have a little competition today"

Cuts to Jarred looking at the camera mouthing, "I hope we're playing hockey." Lifts his hands to show his fingers are crossed.

"We are playing basketball!" The guys cheer, except for Jarred. They all walk into the arena and they get warmed up all taking shots, all trying to impress Gail. Gail walks around giving the guys encouragement as she makes small talk with them all; she takes a few shots of her own. "I'm going to split you guys into two teams and we are going to play a little game."

The guys head off to the locker rooms to get on different coloured jerseys. George is talking to the camera and says "I can't believe I'm here right now, in the changing rooms at the ACC, then we get to play an actual game at the ACC. Cool."

Chris Harrisun appears just in time to ref the game. He announces, "On the blue team we have Jack, Mark, and Jarred, on the red team we have Chris, George, and Brad Z. This is a friendly game, and nobody is getting hurt." Chris looks at each one as he says that last bit. He blows the whistle, throws the ball in the air and the game begins. Gail is cheering from the side lines, cheering on both teams when she decides to go sit in the bleachers. She looks up and notices Holly already sitting there and makes her way to her.

Gail sits next to Holly and says, "my moneys on the red team."

Holly looks at her and laughs, "that's fine I think blue's going to win anyways. How about loser's team has to cook the other dinner?"

"Deal" Gail says and starts to watch the game intently. The two sit mostly in silence but cracking the odd joke as they watch the guys play. It started off as a close game but the blue team wins 50-38. "How did you know blue would win?" Gail asks with some annoyance.

"I was watching you guys practice and noticed more of their shots went in, as well as that one" Holly points at one of the guys.

Gail supplies "George"

"Yes, him, he practically runs away from the ball every time it gets near him, hard to win if you do that." Holly smiles a lop-sided grin at Gail who is staring at her.

"You win, I'll come over sometime this week to make you dinner," says Gail as she gets up.

"Where are you going?" asks Holly.

"Continue my date?" answers Gail.

"Oh yeah, right. See you around."

"Later nerd." Gail heads back down to the guys to congratulate a good game.

The date continues at the cocktail party. Brad Z steals Gail away first and they sit on a sofa. Brad Z starts with "That was fun today."

"Yes it was, I'm glad you had fun. So you're a day trader from Chicago. If we end up together at the end of this would you be willing to move to Toronto?"

Brad Z thinks about it for a few seconds, "would you be willing to move to Chicago?"

"For the right person, I would be willing to move anywhere."

Brad Z thinks again and says, "my family is in Chicago, but my job doesn't necessarily tie me down anywhere, so I guess I'd be willing to move."

"OK. Tell me about your family, are you all close?"

"You could say that, growing up it was just my mother, brother, and me. Being raised by a single mom, you learn to become a gentleman. My brother and I always looked out for each other and our mom. We helped her with anything we could, and then when we got older and got jobs of our own, we still try to support her because she's the only parent we have."

"Thank you for sharing this with me. I feel like I know you better know." Brad Z leans in for the kiss, but only gets a peck because they are interrupted with a "can I speak with you for a minute?" Before Brad Z knows it Gail is gone, walking away with Mark.

The rest of the guys are sitting together and Chris says, "I have something really important to tell Gail and I think I need to do it tonight." The guys can sense his worry and try to calm him. Just then Gail appears and Jarred jumps up to take his time with her.

The two walk away and Jarred asks, "how are you feeling today, yesterday must have been hard?"

Gail thinks for a second to compose her words. "I'm feeling better today; I was upset with what Dov had done but, forgive and forget. I don't want what he did to influence any of my other relationships." Gail says hoping to steer Jarred into a different conversation.

Jarred not taking the hint continues to plow on, "If I had a girlfriend still back home, I would not come on this show." Gail rolls her eyes. "I would cherish her and not lie to you or her. I would be a great boyfriend. Just like today, my team won. I have the winning spirit."

Gail cannot stop rolling her eyes so she makes a ringing noise. She quickly gets up and walks a few steps away to answer her 'phone', she makes a phone out of her hand and pretends to talk on it. She covers her pinkie, the mouthpiece, looks Jarred in the eyes and says, "I have to take this," and walks away before he has a chance to respond. Jarred just nods his head in agreement and watches her leave.

Gail is stopped along the way by Chris who asks to talk. The two head into another room to sit down. Chris begins by saying, "I'm sorry about Dov, he had told me he had ended things with Chloe."

Gail holds up her hand to stop him, "It's fine, I don't blame you, I blame Dov. He shouldn't have been on this show in the first place. Let's move on. What was life like for you growing up?"

"My mom was always around; she took care of my siblings and me. She had the occasional boyfriend who would be in the picture but not for long. That's why I know it's important for me to be in my son's life. I don't want him to grow up without a father."

"Oh…you have a son?"

"Yes, his name's Christian and he's a mini me. He wants to be cop when he grows up too. His mom is currently taking care of him right now, but we have a shared custody, so when this is done he can come back to me."

"So how does that work, does he go from Toronto to Timmins every other week or what?" asks Gail trying to sound supportive of Chris.

"No, Denise, his mom, moved to Toronto to make it easier on everyone. So he stays one week with her one week with me, we live fairly close to each other so he can go to the same school."

"That's great Chris" Gail says with a smile on her face, "I can't wait to meet him."

"You're okay with this?" Chris questions suspiciously.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be? I know everyone has a past, your past and future contains a kid. No big deal."

"You say that know, but on a Sunday morning when you want to sleep in and he's jumping on our bed at 7am, you may think differently." Chris says as he smiles.

"Wait here for a second." Gail leaves but comes right back, holding the rose. "Thank you for sharing tonight Chris, you having a kid is special, and I truly hope to learn more about you and him. Will you accept this rose?"

Chris eagerly nods his head and helps Gail pin the rose on him before he quickly hugs her.

Gail gets up and goes to say goodnight to the rest of the guys and leaves.

The next day is the one on one date. "Today I have chosen Brad W to go on a date." Gail informs the camera. "I have a huge surprise planned."

Brad W steps out of a limo on a tarmac, Gail is standing in front of a personal aircraft. "Hi Brad!" Brad W heads over to Gail and envelopes her in a hug. "Are you ready for today?"

"Definitely!"

"Well let's get in this helicopter then." The two get all buckled in and the pilot takes off. "We are heading to Niagara today," informs Gail.

"Wow." Brad W says with amazement in his eyes. They take some time flying to Niagara and enjoy the scenery then they fly over the falls. "This is incredible."

Eventually they land at a winery where they are shown around the grounds then they sit at a table for two enjoying the landscape and each other's company. "This has been a great day so far," Brad W says, "thanks for inviting me."

"You're welcome. I'm having a great time too, tell me something about yourself, what do you look for in a partner?"

"Trust is big, loyalty, kindness, and laughter. If you can't laugh with each other a life together would be hard."

"I like to laugh too, loyalty and trust are big, if you can't rely on the other that would be hard. Why did your last relationship end?"

"We wanted different things, I was ready to start having kids and she wasn't, I was ready to move in together, and she wanted to keep her own place. We were at two different spots in our relationship."

"I see, speaking of moving, would you be willing to relocate to Toronto?"

"Of course," Brad W says without skipping a beat. "I'm a teacher, I'm sure I can find a teaching job Toronto, they have kids there right?" Brad W jokes, the two laugh.

Gail leans over the table of barely touched food, and grabs the rose, "I had a great time today and want to see where this can go, would you accept this rose?"

"Yes." Brad W has a massive smile on his face and leans in to kiss Gail. In the background fireworks go off in the vineyard.

The next day, Gail and six of the guys are headed to Canada's Wonderland. Gail greets the guys at the park's entrance and leads them to their first ride. Gail is talking to the camera saying, "today is all about having fun, I want to see the guys be relaxed and see who's comfortable with a day of pure enjoyment." They all get on the roller coaster and the cameras plastered to the front of the ride show them all screaming their heads off as they go up and down.

Craig is talking to the camera at some point and says, "that was great! Roller coaster favourite ride!" Smiles at his own song lyric joke.

Liam and Gail go for a ride on the Ferris wheel, "I'm having so much fun today, thank you for choosing me."

"No problem," says Gail, "how are you doing with all of this…" waving her hand to indicate the other men.

"It's definitely different, but I'm coping, it's easier when I get to spend time like this with you."

"Awwww….That's sweet" Liam leans in for the kiss, the ride stops and it's time to get off.

They all head on to the pirate ship ride and swing back and forth. The day flies by and Gail decides she has had a great afternoon with them, being able to spend some individual quality time with all the guys was a bonus, but it's now time for them all to head back to the mansion for the rose ceremony.

Back at the mansion Brad B has set up a couple of features for him to practice on, Brad B talking to the camera: "no date this week, so I figured I'd practice my skateboarding."

The guys get back from their date and see Brad B skateboarding…again, Brad M says to Shane, "that's all he does is skateboard, I don't even think he cares about Gail."

Scott chimes in, "I'm not sure he even remembers her name, the other day he asked me what it was."

Alex wonders aloud, "why is he here then?" The six file inside leaving Brad B to his skateboarding.

Chris Harrisun appears shortly later informing the guys, "there will be no cocktail party tonight, we are going right to the rose ceremony. The next time you see Gail may be your last." Chris Harrisun then leaves. The guys go to stand in their two rows and wait for Gail.

Gail appears in a black dress with her hair down and pulled to the side. "Don't you guys look handsome." Smiles Gail, "I had a great week and I'm ready to continue this journey. I feel hopeful and can only hope you do to. With that…" the intense music starts to play, "Alex?"

Alex steps forward, "will you accept this rose?"

Alex smiling as he questions, "stitches and all?"

A smiling Gail says, "stitches and all" and pins the rose to his jacket.

Gail hands out more roses until the final one when Chris Harrisun appears and says, "Gail…gentlemen this is the last rose. When you're ready…"

It's between Brad B, Jarred, and George. "Brad B," Brad B walks to Gail, "will you accept this rose?"

"Yea!" Gail pins the rose to his jacket. She then says goodbye to Jarred and George.

Jarred leaves the mansion and is talking to the camera in the limo on his way to the airport, "I never found out what her favourite hockey team was…"

The remaining men and Gail toast to the upcoming week.


	5. Chapter 5

Gail is cooking in the kitchen with Holly sitting on the stools. "So Chris has a kid." Gail informs Holly.

"Another prediction came through. Do you want kids?"

"Yeah, someday. I guess my someday could be sooner than I expected though."

"You're just willing to become a mom just like that?" Gail continues to move around the kitchen putting finishing touches to their dinner.

"Yeah, why not? If I choose Chris in the end, I would be willing to take on all responsibilities of being a parent. Why do you not want kids?" questions Gail.

"I never really thought about it, maybe with the right person. If my future wife and I" Holly can't help but smile at the term, "decide to have a family, than yes I want kids, but if she doesn't then that's fine too."

"You could write off kids just like that?"

"Like I said, it's not a big deal to me."

"Well I want kids, and the sooner the better," Gail informs Holly. "What if your future wife wants a slew of kids? What if all she has are babies on the brain?" Gail presents the completed plates to Holly. Holly examines the plates and notices there are baked quarterd potatoes, green beans, and a breaded pork chop.

"Then we'll have babies, but for now let's eat this before it gets cold." The two sit at the counter and start eating their dinner. "Wow! This is delicious!"

"Don't sound so surprised nerd. It's not that difficult to cook," Gail tells Holly not taking her eyes off of her plate. "It's actually kind of nice to cook; lately I've been eating out too much."

"On your dates, that's usually how that works; unless you want to cook for all the guys every time."

"Oh no, most people don't learn I can cook, then there are expectations that I'd rather not fulfill. I don't mind cooking, it's kind of therapeutic, following a recipe, and in the end a creation you can eat. But I also like it when others cook for me." The two fall into silence as they finish eating their meal.

"Anyways, I should make more bets with you so I can win more home cooked meals."

"Pfft. Like I'd be willing to do this again, next time there will be different stakes."

"Fine by me, if I lost I would not have been able to produce a meal like this."

"At my house we had to learn to cook, my brother and I started to help in the kitchen when we were young. At first it was peeling carrots but we would often stick around the kitchen watching our parents, then when we were older we would help cut potatoes or bread meat, and when we got older they would quiz us on police procedures to get us ready for the job while we helped cook." Gail goes quiet, once again realizing she just willingly shared information she normally doesn't talk about.

Holly, content listening to Gail, looks up at Gail when she realizes Gail isn't going to continue talking and sees a blank look on her face. "Is everything ok?"

"Um…yeah, just preparing myself for the week ahead. Had an eventful week last week and will have another one this week."

*ping* Holly looks at her phone, "shit."

Gail looks straight at Holly, "what's wrong, someone else get hurt?"

"Uh…no. I have a family function this weekend." Holly says a little distracted as she continues to stare at her phone.

"What's so bad about that? Unless your family is like mine." Questions Gail.

"Your family sounds nice; you have a fond memory of learning how to cook." Gail scrunches her face, but Holly continues, "no, I forgot I agreed to go to this family thing, we do it every year, my ex was really the one that agreed to go, now I don't know if I want to go on my own."

"I'll go with you." Gail can't believe the words that just escaped her mouth, but tries to maintain her cool.

"Oh, you don't have to, that's really nice of you though. You're probably busy anyways." Holly tries to give Gail an out.

"What would I be busy doing?" Gail wonders.

"You're dates, remember you're the bachelorette, you have like 15 different suitors. Ring any bells?"

"Oh. Right…" Gail thinks aloud, "the dates start tomorrow, I have a date Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the rose ceremony on Friday."

"So you're free Saturday?" Gail nods. "Well, if you really want to come, but you truly don't have to."

"You've helped me; now I would like to help you, you know, repay the favour, even if it is just to go to some sort of party."

Holly gives Gail a lop-sided smile, "thanks, but if you really don't want to go and spend your free day with my family and I, I completely understand."

"I'm going nerd, whether you like it or not. Now time for dessert, I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies." Gail says as she gets up to clear their plates and grab the plate of cookies. She returns to her seat and picks up a cookie.

"Thank you" says Holly.

Shaking her head Gail says, "they're just cookies."

The next day Gail sets out on a date with Brad B, Jack, Chris, Brad W, and Shane. Brad B is talking to the camera and says: "The date card said 'can we find love in the wild?' I don't know what that means, but I'm ready."

The guys emerge from a limo to Gail standing outside of the entrance to the African Lion Safari. Brad B runs up to hug Gail first. "Hello. Today we are going to explore the various animal exhibits." Gail addresses the fellas, "Are you guys ready? Then let's go!"

The six make their way to the tram to take a ride through the exhibits. Everyone spends time pointing out various animals and exclaiming how much fun they are having. They meet up with one of the animal handlers. He says, "I'm Zach. You guys are going to help us with the elephants today. We need to clean their habitat and replenish their food and water supplies. Are you guys up to it?"

The men and Gail start to help clean the pen. Jack looking at the camera while holding a shovelful of dung, "just like in a relationship, there can be shit."

Shane laughs and says, "that was awful."

"It wasn't that shitty was it?" Jack asks, but Shane just shakes his head and continues to clean.

Gail facing the camera says, "I wanted to see who wasn't afraid of a little hard work." The guys finish cleaning and restocking everything when Zach reappears, "we are going to bring the elephants back to this section. You guys should stick around and watch."

Brad B says, "wow, all our hard work and it's already dirty. That didn't stay clean for long."

Gail says, "what did you expect?" She shakes her head and comments, "You know what, don't answer that."

Afterwards they head to one of the park's clearings to have a picnic. Chris steals Gail away first. Gail asks "did you have fun today?"

"Yes. I only wish Christian were here. He would love this place. That's what's great about having kids; you get to experience things again."

"Is it hard being a single parent?"

"No because Denise and I have the ability to rely on each other. I think it would be different with someone else."

"How come you two broke up, if you don't mind me asking?" wonders Gail.

"You have every right to know. We were high school sweet hearts, in the end we both wanted different things and headed into two separate directions. We were young and in love, but it wasn't enough."

"That's too bad," consoles Gail, "But it's great that you two are able to make it work for Christian."

"He truly is the light of my life; I go to bed thinking about him and wake up still thinking about him." Chris says with a smile on his face. Just then Brad B steals Gail away.

Brad B asks Gail, "how are you doing?"

"I'm great, how are you, this has got to be such a different dating experience than what you're used to?"

"Of course, but I've got my skateboard and that helps me maintain my cool. Skateboarding is my life, when I was a kid that was all I wanted to do. I'd wake up and skateboard, I'd go to skate parks with friends. My life revolved around my board, my craft."

"I can see you're really passionate about your profession, but where would I fit in? How could we mesh our two lives together?" Gail questions Brad B.

"Of course you would fit into my life, babe." Gail scrunches her face at the term. "You could come with me to all my events and cheer me on. You could watch me practice my tricks and cheer me on. You wouldn't mind leaving Toronto right?" Brad B asks Gail.

"For the right person, I'd be willing to go anywhere. We just need more time to see what the future holds." Gail trying to find more about Brad B asks, "what else do you do, obviously you spend a lot of time skateboarding, but do you do anything else like read or watch TV?"

"I do watch some documentaries."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Gail happy to potentially hear a different side of Brad B.

"I think the last one I watched was on the evolution of the skateboard. Babe," Gail scrunches her face again, "you would not believe the changes that have been made over the years!"

Gail rolls her eyes. Luckily Jack shows up to speak with her privately. Jack and Gail walk away to a shady tree, "having a nice time?"

"The best," Jack reveals, "anytime with you is great, even if there are four other guys around."

"You're too kind. So tell me something about yourself, who is Jack?"

"Well, I live on my own with my two dogs, Zeke and Rex. They pretty much go everywhere with me. I hope you're a dog person, if not you're going to be one by the end of this. I am going to convince you how great dogs are."

"I think I'm more of a cat person, but I'm willing to hear your arguments."

"That's great; keep an open mind because you are going to see how much better dogs are compared to cats." Jack then very enthusiastically goes over the benefits to having a dog; while Gail watches the fluffy clouds scoot by above them.

Gail, after having talked to all the guys, picks up the rose and walks over to Brad W who gratefully accepts the rose. Gail says her goodbyes and leaves the guys at the park.

The next day Gail has a one on one date with Brad M, and they are standing on a race car track. "I hope you like to go fast, because today we are. We get to drive various cars on an enclosed track!" Gail seems super pumped at the idea.

Brad M looks a little leery, "Is it safe?"

"Of course it is. I picked you today because I know you like cars… and you have a valid license. So what should we try first, the Ferrari or the Mustang? You know what, it doesn't really matter, we'll be trying both." Gail kind of waves him off and makes her selection, choosing the American muscle first. They both get into the Mustang with Gail behind the wheel, "Ready?" And off they go, driving around the track. Gail is grinning from ear to ear as she takes the first turn. Brad M starts to cheer and relish in the sensation of going fast around the track. They get out of the car and move to the Ferrari, they take the car out for a ride too and enjoy the experience.

Later Brad M asks, "which one the Camaro or the Corvette? You know what, it doesn't really matter, we'll be trying both." As he quotes Gail from earlier, clearly enjoying the date. "It's a dream car experience!" Brad M gushes.

 _Back at the mansion_

The guys are sitting around eating bags of ketchup chips and all dressed chips, while drinking caesers. *ding dong* Brad B comes in from the outside with his skateboard and the date card. He reads, "Alex, Liam, Mark, Scott, Brad Z, and Craig: who's ready to build a future? Gail" He hands the card off to someone else, "I'm going back outside to practice my tricks."

The men start to analyze the message, "where do you think we're going?"

"Maybe to a furniture factory," speculates Alex.

"Why a furniture factory? That makes no sense," argues Craig.

"Sorry" mumbles Alex.

 _Back on the date_

When they are all done they sit on the lawn at a table for two. "This has been the best date ever," Brad M shares.

"I'm glad you think so, I'm having fun too. What are you hoping to get out of this experience? Are you looking for a wife at the end of this?"

"Yes. I'm looking for the love of my life and I hope it's you. I feel like our relationship is progressing nicely and we share multiple things in common which is good, and now another one. Fast cars! I like what I see in you and hope to continue to learn more about you. You're obviously looking for your soul mate, right?"

Gail nods her head, "I know this process works, I fell in love with Nick and was willing to spend my life with him, which is why I'm here again. I want to find my soul mate, my team mate, my person." They stare at their surroundings for a bit, really taking in the track and the cars. The sun begins to set and Gail turns to Brad M, "I had a great day today, and I would like to see where things go. Would you accept this rose?"

"Yes" Brad M gets his rose pinned to his shirt.

Gail says, "I have another surprise for you." They walk back to the track and a short ways away fireworks start to go off.

Brad M to the camera, "best day ever!"

The following day, Gail is standing in a parking lot with some guy when the men arrive. "Today we are at Legoland, and this is my friend Tim who is a master builder. He is going to take us on a tour of the park and then we are going to try and build some creations." Gail informs them.

They walk throughout the park and marvel at the inventive structures. "Oh I could easily build that," jokes Scott as he points at a replica of Toronto. Everyone scoffs.

Eventually, Tim brings them to a room full of bricks, "we didn't want to overwhelm you with some complicated object to build, so now you guys are going to build your perfect house for you and Gail. Gail and I will walk around to check on your construction process, in the end we will declare a winner. Ok, let's get started!"

Everyone gets started on their ideal homes. Gail and Tim walk over to Craig, "Is there a reason why you're only using blue bricks?" Gail asks.

"To match your eyes" says Craig.

Tim laughs and says, "smooth." The two walk to the next house construction site. They spend the rest of the afternoon building these houses. Tim says, "thank you for participating in our silly activity, and I know you all are hoping for a winner, but I'd have to say all the houses look great and you are all winners."

Later at the cocktail party Gail is talking to Liam, "I had fun today," Liam tells Gail, "and I think our future dream house looks pretty good, eh?"

Gail laughs, "yeah, if we don't want a roof."

"We will get great air circulation," informs Liam.

Gail rolls her eyes, "so, would you be willing to move to Toronto, or do you not want to leave Nova Scotia?"

"My family and friends live out in Nova Scotia, but for the right person, I'd be willing to move. Plus, you guys have a lot of breweries in the Toronto area. It's too bad it's going to be more expensive with this new aluminum tariff…what is this world coming to?" trying to sound up to date on today's news.

"That's only for craft beers, but we are getting buck-a-beer. Beer for one dollar."

"More incentive to move to Ontario." Liam smiles.

The Chicagoan, Brad Z appears saying, "can I talk to you for a minute?" Gail and Brad Z head to a different spot to have a chat.

Gail asks Brad Z, "how are you doing, I know this is a little different from a normal dating process."

"I'm fine. Not used to all the guys around though, that's different. How are you doing?"

"I'm good, I'm hopeful. Did you have fun today?"

"Yes, I felt like a kid again. I think I had the best house, I really worked hard on it, I wish Tim would have actually chosen the best for real, instead of making us all winners."

Gail shrugs her shoulders and says, "sorry."

Brad Z suddenly stands up. "Ugh…that's so frustrating. I can't stand it. Everyone here is so apologetic. I don't get it."

Gail, to see how he reacts, says, "sorry."

"Grr…no. Stop apologizing," Brad Z has his fists clenched. "why do you guys apologize for everything? It makes no sense, nobody does that back home, but all of you say sorry at the drop of a hat." Brad Z calms down a little. "I don't know what to do."

Gail says, "relationships are a two way street, if you're not feeling it, that's fine, I totally understand."

Brad Z nods his head, thinking, he takes a minute before he confesses "I think it best for me to go." Gail agrees and walks him out, "it was nice to meet you and I hope you find what you're looking for." Gail thanks him and heads back inside.

Gail walks over to the group of men and tells them Brad Z went home. "However, I still have a rose to hand out; this rose is going to the man who has built the bluest house I've ever seen. Craig will you accept this rose?" Gail pins the rose to him and wishes the men a goodnight.

"Waking up today I feel good. I have a great group of guys with lots of potential." Gail tells the camera. "Tonight at the rose ceremony I still have a lot of hard questions to ask so I can make the best decision."

Later that night Gail walks into the mansion ready to see where this night takes her. She gets stolen by Scott. They walk to a bench where they sit, "how are you coping with this experience?"

"Good, it's not the most natural way to date, but I'm enjoying it and I feel you and I have a good connection."

"Glad to hear it. So you're from Seattle, if I were to visit you, what would we do?"

"The classic touristy things like the space needle or the fish market, but my personal favourite is the underground tour. It gives the city a different feel, being able to see its history."

"It's nice to hear your appreciation for your home town." Just then Alex cuts in to steal Gail. The two walk away, as they get closer to a lounge area Gail notices stuff on the table, "what's all this?"

Alex explains, "I've been busy in the kitchen today making doughnuts. A little birdie told me those were your favourite. So let's try them and tell me what you think." The two start to eat the doughnuts.

"These are delicious; did you always want to be a baker?"

"Pretty much, it's a family business. I watched my dad and granddad at the bakery, I went to pastry school in Montreal, then I went home to Laval to help with the shop." He hands Gail another doughnut. Gail doesn't think twice and pops the whole thing in her mouth. Alex stares and says, "gosh I love you."

Gail's eyes go buggy and coughs out a, "what?"

Alex stares into Gail's eyes, "I said 'I love you'."

Gail shakes her head and says, "I don't have the same feelings, and I don't know if I ever will."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you need to go. I will walk you out." The two walk to the front of the mansion where there is a car waiting for Alex, they say goodbye. Gail heads back into the mansion.

Sometime later Chris Harrisun appears, "Gail are you ready for the rose ceremony?" Chris Harrisun and Gail go to a different room to discuss. "How was your week this week?"

"Eventful. So much happens in so little time."

"Do you see a future with anyone here?" Chris asks Gail.

"I have definitely felt a spark with someone and whole heartedly want to see where it goes." Gail thinks aloud, "there are absolutely a lot of great guys here, some truly genuine guys."

At the rose ceremony there are ten guys, three already have roses, Gail is looking at the roses, ready to give them out. "Liam, will you accept this rose?"

She hands out three more roses. Chris Harrisun walks back into the room, "Gail, gentlemen there is only one rose left tonight. Gail when you're ready…"

It's between Jack, Mark, and Brad B.

"Brad B, will you accept this rose?"

Jack and Mark say their goodbyes and leave. Gail and the eight remaining suitors all grab a glass of champagne and toast to the upcoming week. Gail ends the night by going home, knowing she has another full day tomorrow.

Holly knocks lightly on Gail's door in the early afternoon. Gail opens the door right away, already dressed for their day out. "Good afternoon," Gail greets.

"Gail. Hey. How are you? How was your week? Beautiful day, eh?" Holly says super fast looking at everywhere but Gail.

"You ok Hols, you're acting weird."

"No, I'm fine, I just feel bad dragging you along to some silly old family function on your day off."

"Holly, it's fine, I want to come. Plus I could use the distraction. If I just sit around here all day I'll just over analyze things."

"Well… ok then. We better head out then, we're heading out to my grandparents' and they live on the outskirts of the city in Mississauga." Holly reluctantly comes around.

"Yes" Gail fist pumps, then quickly puts her hands at her sides and acts as if she did not just fist pump. The two head to Holly's car and start their day together.

On the car ride over Gail randomly asks, "do you like anchovies on your pizza?"

"Yuck! No, anchovies are a super food for penguins not for Hollys."

"Pfft, did you just refer to yourself in the third person, nerd."

"How was your week?" Holly changes the topic curious to see how the dates were.

"Good, I feel like there is tons of potential, but I don't know yet. I'm looking for the person who I just click with immediately and who I would willingly spend time with. Maybe once I learn more about the guys I'll find that."

"Yeah, maybe. How's stitches?" Holly asks referring to the guy she sewed up last week, "They are healing nicely in case you're curious."

"Oh…I sent him home."

"What?! Why?! I liked swoopy hair. Plus he gave my some tasty baked goods as a thank you for sewing him up."

"He told me he loves me and I'm not there yet, if I'll ever be there with him."

"Ah. That's too bad. Sorry." Holly consoles.

"It's ok. That was the other weird break up I had, Brad Z left because he's tired of people saying 'sorry'."

"Ha ha ha…oh you're serious. That's funny. But, once again I'm sorry."

"Honestly, I'm fine with it, I'm glad they left sooner rather than later. It's easier that way."

"I guess I'll just have to settle for your homemade chocolate chip cookies instead, now that the baker is gone."

Gail smiles and stares out the window. They eventually arrive to a fairly large house in the back of a subdivision. The two get out of the car. Before walking up the path Gail asks, "is there anything I should know?"

"Brief history of my family: my father's parents" Holly points to the house, "had four kids. My dad's the oldest followed by my two uncles and my aunt. They all are married and have children of their own." Holly smiles as she continues to inform Gail, "My cousins and I are fairly close, some will be here. Generally speaking my family gets along, just little tiffs here and there. My brother will be here, see if you can pick him out of the crowd miss police officer." Holly pokes Gail in the stomach playfully. Holly takes a breath and reluctantly shares, "Most of my family liked my ex and don't understand why we broke up, like I said she was the one who agreed to come to this thing, I was ready to skip this year's gathering," Holly says starting to sound flustered. "Anyways," as Holly calms down, "let's go in and have some fun. Whenever you're ready we'll leave."

Gail nods her head. Holly looks at Gail. "Still happy you agreed to come?"

"Thrilled." Gail walks past Holly to go up the steps and wait for her outside the front door. Holly walks up to the door and knocks.

"Last chance…" Gail takes Holly's hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, knowing Holly left something out earlier when giving the brief history. The door opens, Holly quietly whispers, "too late."

"Holly!" A lady with gray hair and glasses opens the door.

"Hi Grandma, thanks for inviting me," says Holly as she gives her grandma a hug.

"Oh Holly, you know you're always welcome. Who's your friend?"

Gail extracts her hand from Holly's and sticks it out to shake hands, "Hi, I'm Gail. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Stewart."

Holly's grandma shakes Gail's hand and says, "you can call me Cathy." She turns her head to look at Holly, clearly fishing for some sort of explanation, "I didn't know you were bringing someone…"

"Uh…I told dad to tell you I was." Holly scrambles, not wanting to reveal she herself didn't want to come.

"Oh, he didn't say, but that's fine. Come on in. Make yourself at home dear. Everyone's out back enjoying the last few nice days of fall. I'll give you a quick tour." Cathy leads the way into the house with Holly and Gail following. "The bathroom's over there, the kitchen's through here, and if you need anything just ask." With that the doorbell rings and Cathy is gone.

"Ready to meet everyone else?" Holly questions Gail with a shy smile as they make their way through the house to the backyard.

"Do they know who I am?" Gail asks Holly to mentally prepare herself for what might come.

"I honestly don't know how much reality TV my family watches." They observe clusters of people scattered throughout the yard.

"Why are you so nervous?" Gail asks. Holly doesn't answer and opens the sliding door to lead Gail to three family members.

"Hi, this is Gail," Holly introduces, while Gail stands there and waves. Holly is immediately swept up into a hug by her mom. "Gail this is my mom."

Gail once again says, "Hello Mrs. Stewart, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, I have heard nice things about you." Gail shoots Holly a look and mouths 'nice'. "Now that you're here Holly, do you mind helping me with something?"

"Of course mom. Be nice Gail." Holly follows her mom back inside and leaves Gail with some of the Stewarts.

A man stands up and says, "I'm Holly's grandfather Bob and this is my son, Fred. Please have a seat and join us while we wait for the others." Gail takes a seat with the two men. "So Gail, what do you do?"

"I'm a police officer in the city, sir."

"Ah, a cop. That must be exciting." More people enter the backyard.

"It definitely is. You have a lovely home and a beautiful backyard."

"Thank you. You should check it out, go explore." He stands up to greet people and says, "this is Gail, she came with Holly, Gail these are some more of my grandchildren."

"I hope you're ready for today's activities," says one of the cousins.

"What activity?" asks Gail.

"Our annual bocce tournament! Didn't Holly tell you?"

"No, she most certainly did not." Gail says looking around for Holly.

More people arrive and Grandpa Stewart says, "Ok, now that everyone's here, let's get started. We chose all the pairings earlier; we decided this year you are stuck with your plus one." A few groans are heard and Bob says, "This will be fun."

Holly finds Gail at their assigned court. Gail says, "Annual bocce tournament?"

Holly gives Gail a sheepish grin, "sorry?"

"That's ok nerd, I'll have you know I was a bowling master, bocce should be a walk in the park." Gail boasts.

"Bowling master, eh?"

"Yup." Gail says popping the 'p'.

"You're insane, you know that right?" Holly grins at Gail. A cough sound is heard to get Holly and Gail's attention; Holly looks past Gail, "Gail this is my cousin Liz and her husband Daniel. Who's ready for bocce?" The game begins, which ever team's balls get closest to the jack ball wins points for the round. The four take turns throwing their bocce balls, they get closer to count up the points.

Daniel throws a ball and it goes wildly off to the side. Liz exclaims, "oh come on Daniel!"

Daniel defends, "what? It was a bad bounce. Liz is a little competitive."

"I remember," says Holly.

They collect the balls at the end of the round and Liz says, "I'm not that competitive."

Daniel says, "let me throw the jack ball then." Liz quickly throws the ball, and everyone laughs.

Next round Gail throws the jack ball and throws her ball right next to it. "Nice throw Gail," congratulates Holly.

"Told you this would be easy," Gail points to herself and says, "master."

Holly smiles and rolls her eyes at Gail. Liz walks up to Holly and quietly says, "you two are cute together. I much prefer her over Tanya."

Holly starts to say "thanks, but we're not"

"I never understood what you saw in her," Liz cuts Holly off. Holly nods her head and continues the game. Holly and Gail win, which eliminates Daniel and Liz. Holly and Gail move on to play Holly's parents.

They start the game. Holly asks her parents, "how have you guys been doing? Did you finish the renovations?"

"We are fine, happy, and healthy. Your mom is super happy, the construction crew just finished this week, so know have a little peace and quiet and no more people constantly coming and going in our house." Fred shares.

"Well that's good," Holly accepts the jack ball from Gail, "thanks Gail."

"So Gail, are you from around here?" asks Mrs. Stewart, as she steps back to examine the game.

"Yes, I grew up in Toronto, with my parent and my older brother."

"Fred says you're a cop."

"Yes, kind of a family business, both my parents and my brother work for the force. I love my job; I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"What are your plans for the future?" asks Mrs. Stewart.

"I hope to never leave the Toronto area, it's my home. I'm just trying to find the right person to settle down with and start a family." Gail steps up to take her turn. Gail and Holly win again, this time eliminating Holly's parents.

There is a break in the games and everyone mingles about freely. Gail is left talking to Liz and Daniel, while Holly talks privately with her mom. "Gail seems…nice."

"She is," Holly assures. Not sure where this is going, Holly tries to change the subject, "any trips planned this winter?"

"Our usual trip south…I still don't understand why you broke up with Tanya. You two seemed so good for each other," the older woman pushes.

"Come on mom, not this again," Holly pleads. "Not today."

"Do you two still talk, could you talk it out?"

"Please mom…"

"I'm just trying to help."

"No you're not," Holly sighs, "plus now I have" Gail walks into view to get Holly's attention to resume the bocce tournament.

Mrs. Stewart says, "Gail."

Holly smiles and says, "right, now I have Gail. We'll talk later mom."

They move on to the next game this time against another cousin. Holly introduces Gail to her cousin Abby and her boyfriend Matt. Abby asks Holly, "how's life?"

"Good, taking a much needed break from the chaos of working at a hospital, kind of realizing I may not be happy forever in that type of environment."

"What would you do instead?"

"Oh, I'll still be a doctor, but I'll find a different sector. I enjoyed pathology in school, so I've been looking into that." The game starts and Holly reciprocates, "how's life for you?"

"Good, can't complain," Abby says and grins at Matt, "we're moving in together!"

"Congrats guys!"

"Thanks." Abby gestures between Holly and Gail and asks, "how long have you two been together?"

Gail starts to say, "oh, we're not"

Holly cuts her off, "ready to move in together yet, right babe?" Holly shoots Gail a pleading look, to say please go with it.

"Right…we've only known each other a couple of months now," Gail says truthfully. The game concludes with Gail and Holly losing this one, officially getting eliminated. Gail looks at Holly and says, "your grandfather says I should explore the backyard, care to show me around?"

"Of course," Holly grabs a couple of beers and hands one to Gail. "Follow me." Holly takes Gail down a path that leads to the river. Holly takes a seat on one of the rocks, Gail follows suit.

"Well this is a cool backyard."

"Yeah, I always liked coming here as a kid. The river is pretty much always cold, but I still swam in it." Holly says getting lost watching the river run continuously.

"It's beautiful," Gail comments. "Do you want to talk about what happened back there, _babe?_ "

"Oh, that, you caught that, huh?" Gail gives a 'mhmm'. Holly sighs and says, "my mom was pestering me about my ex…"

Gail supplies, "Tanya." Holly looks at Gail surprised. Gail points to herself, "miss police officer, I overheard Liz talking to you. Plus I feel like I've been vetted all afternoon."

Holly nods her head. "Sorry about that." Gail waves off the apology. "My mom desperately wants me to get back together with…Tanya, but…no. It seemed a lot easier to make her believe I'm with someone else, sorry."

"It's fine. I told you I'd help you anyway you needed it. Plus I'm already dating like ten guys, what's one person," Gail teases.

"Thanks. See that, you are nice!" Holly decides.

"What makes you think I'm nice?"

"I see you with the guys; you're always so nice to them."

Gail scoffs. "I'm pretty sure it was in the contract I had to sign, I'm pretty sure I have to be nice. Who would want to date a mean, moody, snarky bachelorette?"

"Aww…you're not that bad Gail, it's what makes you charming," Holly reassures jokingly.

Gail shrugs her shoulders and confides, "I think that was one of the main reasons Nick and I broke up." Silence captures the two while they sip their beers and watch the water. "You know what was also in my contract?" Holly shrugs her shoulders. "I have to go on millionaire, want to be my plus one, answer all the hard questions for me?"

"Isn't your plus one supposed to be the person you end up with in the end?" questions Holly.

"We'll see," Gail vaguely answers.

The two eventually head back to the house and everyone's gathered around watching the last bocce ball game. Grandma and Grandpa Stewart end up winning. Someone yells out, "you guys planned this." Another accuses, "have you two been practicing?" Everyone laughs.

Everyone begins to mingle again, catching up with each other. Holly and Gail get separated from each other talking to different people. Gail finds herself talking to a group of people, when a man approaches her and pulls her aside, "Hi Gail, I'm Jeff. On behalf of the family, I just want to get to know you a little better and see what your intentions are with my sister."

Out of the corner of her eye, Holly sees Jeff and Gail talking. She slowly makes her way over incase she needs to help Gail. As she approaches the two she overhears Gail say, "I think your sister's great, she's super smart and kind and has helped me a lot. We get along and make each other laugh. We started off as friends and I'm excited to see where this will go."

Jeff nods his head as if to approve Gail's answer. "I'm just looking out for her, you know? She's my sister and I only want the best for her. Her last relationship ended rather abruptly and we were all in shock, and I don't want to see her hurt again. But, she seems to really like you and I haven't seen her smile this much in ages, even with Tanya."

Gail internally rolls her eyes as she says the clichéd, "I promise not to hurt her."

Jeff gives her a smile. He sees Holly approaching so he changes the subject, "and so now next summer we will have a pool. Oh hey Holly."

"What are you two talking about?" asks Holly with a smile on her face, and to keep up appearances strings her arm over Gail's shoulders, while Gail puts her arm around Holly's waist.

"Just that the pool is finally complete and we will have somewhere to swim next summer." Jeff nods his head, pretty pleased with himself.

Holly looks at Gail and says, "Jeff and his wife have young kids and they've been debating for a while now whether or not to get a pool. It's been awful."

"Yes, Aunt Holly, and the kids are excited for next summer to show you their tricks off the diving board." Holly smiles at her brother. "How many kids do you want Gail?" Jeff asks mumbling, "because I know how many Holly wants *cough* none *cough*."

"Hey! I want kids…with the right person," Holly says.

"What happened to 'I am never having a child'?" Jeff pesters his sister.

"Maybe I've had a change of heart."

Gail interjects, "I want a family, so I want kids, preferably three."

Jeff grins at Holly, "did you hear that?" Holly nods her head.

Gail says faux seriously, "Holly if it's you and I in the end we're having kids. I want to be a mom, and you said with the right person, if you think I'm the right person, then we're having kids."

"Ok, we'll discuss this later. Thanks for planning my future family for me though."

"Not for you nerd, for us," Gail grins. Jeff smiles at the two.

The function eventually comes to a close and everyone heads home. In the car Gail says, "thanks for inviting me, I had fun."

"Really?" wonders Holly.

"Really" smiles Gail, "I got to see a whole new side of you."

"Me too," agrees Holly.

Holly parks her car at her house and the two get out. "Thanks again for a nice day. If you ask me to go again next year I think we should practice that way we can win."

"We didn't do that bad." Holly assures, then realizes, "You'd be willing to go again next year?"

"Yeah, I had fun. I like your family. Everyone's so nice and easy going." The two stand in silence for a second. "Well, good night nerd." Gail gives Holly a hug and heads back to her place.


	6. Chapter 6

an: this has now become a choose your own ending. If you want the story to end read this, if not skip to the next chapter.

"Hey Gail," Holly wanders into Gail's backyard and spots the blonde on one of the loungers. "Where is everybody? I went up to the mansion to restock the first aid kits and no one was there."

"I sent them home," Gail says matter of factly.

"Oh, what's wrong? Has something happened?" Holly asks.

"I wasn't feeling it with any of the guys, so I figured why waste their time and my time…Plus there is someone else I would rather date instead."

"Oh, did you have a change of heart with one of the guys you already sent home?"

"No."

"Did you already choose one of the guys you had left and were ready to try a relationship in the real world?"

"No."

"Who else have you met during these last couple of months? I feel like whenever you had spare time you would spend it with me." Holly sounds confused trying to figure out who Gail wants to date, "Who is it?"

Gail sits up and moves to the edge of the lounger, she pats the spot next to her for Holly to sit down. Once they're settled Gail looks at Holly and says, "You."

"Me?" Holly says surprised.

Gail laughs softly, "Yes Holly, you." Gail gives Holly a few seconds before continuing, "I realized that the guys are nice and great, but I preferred spending time with you. When I was out on my dates I would wonder if I would have had more fun with you then them. I realized I had more fun cooking in my kitchen with you then going to Legoland. I found I told you things I would never dream of telling the guys, I willingly went to your family's house, and had a good time. I realized I have been falling for you and developing feelings for you." Gail pauses for a second and says, "And I think you feel the same way and was hoping you would be willing to see where this can go." Gail begins to sound nervous when she asks, "I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me?"

Holly is grinning from ear to ear and asks, "do I have to bring a rose?"

"Oh my gosh, I hope to never see a rose again," Gail laughs and looks at Holly, "is that a 'yes'?"

"I will gladly go on a date with you Gail." Holly leans in and gives Gail a kiss on the cheek to assure her she wants this too.

an: I don't like that Gail was dating all these guys but falling for someone else and that the guys had no idea, essentially having Gail dupe the guys. So I figured I needed to end it. It was either this or move Holly into the bachelor mansion with all the guys, which probably would have been funny too.


	7. Chapter 7

an: You have chosen: continue to read about Gail going on dates and spending time with Holly. This is not a sequel, this is a continuation. Gail is going to continue going on dates until the final two.

"This week we're in Collingwood," Gail tells the camera, in the background you can see Lake Huron. "It's beautiful here, the leaves are changing, the fall colours are spectacular. It's a great place to continue this journey."

Cuts to the guys exploring their new home for the week, scenes of the men running from room to room. *knock* Someone yells out, "Date Card!"

They all gather and Craig reads, "Brad M, Shane, and Liam. Let's see if this tree-o is a tree-t. Gail"

"Wow. Vague. Where do you think they're going?" asks Brad B.

"Obviously, something to do with trees. Should be fun guys," assures Craig.

The guys meet Gail in front of a zip line. "Welcome!" Gail says as she hugs each guy. "Today we will be spending time outside, and we will be walking along the treetop canopy. I hope you all wore sneakers. Let's go." Gail leads the guys to a forested area, and above them is a maze of ropes and floating platforms attached to trees. They meet with a guide who helps them gear up and explains how to be safe on the course.

Liam talking to the camera: "this looks fun!"

Brad M talking to the camera: "this looks…*gulp* exciting."

The guide leads them through the tree top adventure. "I hope none of you are afraid of heights. Or this will be a long day." The gang head out, swaying in the air on ropes and tiny platforms.

Everyone takes their time staring at the beautiful colour that surrounds them. "Wow this is gorgeous." They all kind of get separated from each other on the platforms and everything gets trickier.

"Ok, we need a strategy," declares Gail. "Whenever I walk too far behind you, it's like I'm walking in your wake. I can't imagine what it's like for Shane at the end." Gail says to Brad M and the guide. "I think we need to walk closer together so that it's easier for all of us."

Everyone nods their heads and bunch up. Liam says, "just like in a relationship, we need to stick together." The group does much better staying together and are able to get through the whole course.

"Alright, well this is the end," the guide shares, "you now get to take a zip line ride to the ground. Who's first?"

Brad M looks terrified, "I don't think I can do this."

Guide, "of course you can. Don't think about it and before you know it you'll be on the ground."

"That's not very reassuring," Brad M stutters.

Gail, "I'll go first."

"Wouldn't it be better for you to go last, that way you can encourage the guys to get on the line?" asks the guide.

"No, they just need someone to show them what to do." Gail gets ready and goes zipping down the line. She reaches the ground and yells back to the guys, "piece of cake! Come on!"

Eventually all the guys are standing next to Gail. The guide brings them into a clearing where there is a picnic set up. They each pick up a glass of champagne and Liam says, "cheers to a tree-ific date."

Shane looks at Gail and says, "can I steal you for a second?" The two walk over to some lawn chairs and sit in the autumn sun.

"How did you enjoy that?" asks Gail.

"That was great, an experience I've never had before. A little scary at first, but once we regrouped, it was better."

"I'm glad," says Gail, "what are your ideal qualities in a partner?"

"Trust, communication, and laughter," Shane shares. "Have you ever heard the joke about two police officers crashing their car into a tree?" asks Shane with a big smile on his face.

Gail rolls her eyes and says, "yes, 'that's got to be the fastest we've ever made it to an accident site.'" Shane laughs.

Just then Brad M approaches and asks, "can I steal you for a minute?"

Gail nods her head and addresses Shane, "sorry to leave you."

Brad M and Gail find a spot under a tree. "Are you having fun?" asks Gail.

"Always. How are you doing?" asks Brad M.

"Good, how are you? Still ok with everything?"

"Uh, yeah, well…you only get to see a certain side of us and we spend a lot of time with each other. And don't get me wrong, you have a lot of great guys here, it's just I don't think one of us should be here."

Gail nods her head. "This is a group consensus?"

"Mostly, he does have a friend or two in the house, but generally speaking he is by himself 'practicing his craft.'"

"Ok, thank you for telling me."

Gail gets up and the two head back to the others. Gail picks up the rose and says "Liam. Will you accept this rose?" Gail then wishes the men a goodnight and leaves.

The next day Gail is standing outside a ranch when Chris approaches. "Good afternoon. Are you ready to stop horsing around?" Gail asks with a big smile. The two make their way into a barn to find two horses. They set out along the path, trusting the horses to guide them in a loop back to the barn.

"Gosh it's beautiful out here," says Chris. "You can see the lake in the distance as well as the mountains. These fall colours really make we go 'wow'."

"I agree. Would you ever want to leave the big city?"

"Depends. I couldn't right now though. With Christian so young, and Denise already moved to the city for our family, I couldn't make her move again."

"I understand, you can't really just think about yourself, you have others lives that depend on you."

"Exactly. I'm glad you understand." The two lapse into silence. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I just want to tell you that I don't think someone is here for the right reasons."

"Ok…"

"And I want you to find what you're looking for, even if it's not me, so I figured you needed to know that there is one guy in the house who shouldn't be there," Chris shares.

"Thank you for telling me." The two fall into silence again. They make their way back to the barn and return their horses. They settle down on a couple of hay bales and drink some wine.

 _At the mansion_ Scott is telling everyone about the dream he had last night, "so this person was throwing cupcakes everywhere at work, and I was like 'hey that is a health and safety hazard, you need to stop because someone could get hurt.'"

"And then what?" asks Brad W.

"I don't know, I woke up," admits Scott.

*knock* "Date Card!" Shane goes to get it and reads, "Brad W, Scott, Brad B, and Craig. Let's see if today will be a real tree-t. Gail."

"It better not be trees, I don't know if I can do what you guys did yesterday," says Brad B.

 _Back on the date_ Chris says, "That was fun. I actually thought of trying out for being a police officer on a horse, you know the mounted police."

"And… what came of it?"

"Oh… nothing, I decided to stay as a beat cop." A brief pause of silence.

"Do you hope to change jobs or do you want to be a beat cop for the rest of your life?" Gail cringes at her question, feeling like her mother trying to get someone to better their career.

"I don't know. I enjoy my job. I love being a cop, patrolling the streets with my partner, making the city a safer place. For now I'm happy, gives me more time with my son."

"You sound like a great dad." Gail picks up the rose and says, "Chris I had a lot of fun today, I would like to continue getting to know you, would you accept this rose?"

With the biggest smile on his face Chris agrees.

Gail is returning from her date, just about to open her hotel room door when Holly emerges from her own room. "Hey Gail, how was your day?"

"Exhausting. I'm sore all over." Gail leans her head against the wall. "All I want to do is go in and soak in a bathtub." Gail then notices that Holly is dressed up, "Going somewhere?"

"Uh, yeah. I have a friend who lives in Collingwood, so I'm going to go catch up with her tonight."

Gail nods her head. "I am so excited for tomorrow, a non-physical date. You're not accompanying us, right? Don't think we're going to get hurt at a candy factory?" Holly nods. "Plans for tomorrow?"

"The receptionist suggested to check out the white sandy beaches and she gave me the name of a few good local breweries."

"Sounds like fun. I will probably need alcohol after tomorrow's date if it goes anything like my last two."

"If you want you can come, when will you be back?"

Gail thinks for a second, wondering if she should let Holly change her plans. "Probably not 'til five, I don't want you to wait for me though."

"That's fine; I have some stuff I have to do tomorrow anyways. We'll check out a brewery or two and bring some extra to the beach and watch the sunset."

"That actually sounds great, nice and simple. Simple is good." Gail shares. "Anyways, have fun tonight, I have a date with my tub. Goodnight nerd."

"Goodnight Gail."

Gail enters her room and shuts the door making a beeline for her bathtub.

The following day Gail meets Scott, Brad B, Brad W, and Craig outside a candy factory. Gail informs them, "today we will be touring the factory and my favourite part, tasting the candy. Who's ready?"

The men follow her inside where they meet Waldo, who will show them around. Waldo takes them into the factory to see all the machinery and the candy being made. He begins to explain the process and all the guys nod their heads to show they're paying attention. Eventually Waldo leads them to an open room with various sweets laid out on a table. "Alright guys, pop quiz, winner gets all the goods. Let's see who was really listening." All the guys look scared. Waldo bursts into laughter, "just kidding, help yourself. Thanks for coming in today!" With that Waldo leaves.

Everyone's trying the different candy products debating which one is the best. Craig wanders over to Gail and hands her a piece of candy, "a sweet for my sweet."

Gail rolls her eyes and says, "thanks Craig."

"Want to go talk for a second?"

"Sure." The two walk away from the rest of the guys. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes, today and every day I spend with you has been an experience like no other."

"I'm glad you feel that way. I am certainly having fun with you too. You always have such a positive attitude and you are quite funny, even if most of your jokes are cheesy."

"I am going to take that as a compliment," Craig says, "are you enjoying yourself, Gail?"

"Yes, being able to spend time with all of you in different environments allows me to see various sides of you. I get to see the sporty side or the playful side or the goofy side, it's very helpful for me. How are you doing with this process?"

"Fine, it takes some time getting used to, but I'm here for you and I won't let any of the others get in my way."

"Ok then," just then Scott comes over.

"Mind if I steal Gail for a minute?" Gail and Scott walk over to a different sitting area where there is more candy on a table in front of them. "Have you decided on a favourite yet?"

"Probably the chocolate bar, you?" Gail picks up the one she's referring to and takes a bite.

"Yeah, those candy bars are good, but I really like the caramel ones."

"That's a good choice too; I don't think there's a wrong answer when choosing."

Scott chuckles and looks at Gail, "can I bring up something serious?"

"Please," says Gail, knowing what the topic or rather who the topic is going to be about.

"There are a lot of great guys here, but I don't think one of them has the best of interest in being here, and I just wanted to let you know."

"Well, thanks for the warning. Thanks for looking out for me." Just then Brad B walks up to the duo and takes Gail away.

The two sit down on a picnic table, "how are you enjoying this week?" asks Gail.

Brad B, "I really miss the mansion, don't get me wrong Collingwood is beautiful, but I really like that house."

"I don't think we're going back to the mansion," informs Gail.

"What?! I finally created a course I liked, with all my jumps and tricks I could do on the various features I created. How am I supposed to practice my craft?" wonders Brad B.

"I'm sure you'll find a way. If you'll excuse me I have to get something," says Gail. Brad B gets really excited thinking Gail's going to come back and give him the date's rose. Gail grabs the rose and walks up to Craig, "will you accept this rose?"

"Always." Craig pins the rose to his shirt and gives Gail a hug. Gail says goodbye to the rest and says, "see you tomorrow at the rose ceremony."

Gail heads back to the hotel and flops onto the couch. After laying there for a few minutes staring at the ceiling Gail hears a knock at her door. She quietly gets off the couch to peak through the peep hole afraid that it's one of the guys looking to spend some extra time with her. She lets out a sigh and opens the door to a smiling Holly. "Hey nerd, just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready to go."

"If you're too tired we don't have to go," assures Holly.

"No, I just want to grab a sweatshirt in case it's cool by the water." Gail readies herself and meets Holly by the door, "ready."

The two head to Holly's car and they make their way to a local brewery where they taste test different varieties and pick out their favourite beers to take with them to the lake. They find a bench that allows them to watch the water and sunset. Gail sits down with a sigh. "I feel like I had to do a lot of physical activities this week, so I was glad to be in a candy factory today."

Holly smiles and says, "but you had fun, right?"

"Yes, but I was literally in trees this week, normally I'm only in figurative ones," Gail complains to Holly.

Holly laughs at that. "The fall colours around here are beautiful."

"So I've been told… Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful, but do you know how many of the guys told me how pretty it is here?" Holly shakes her head and Gail answers, "a lot." Sigh. "I don't know why the waste their time talking about the most frivolous things. I also had a lot talk about someone else who they don't think should be here, when they could have spent time getting to know me. It's like they're wasting their time and my time." Sigh.

"Did they at least tell you who it is?" asks Holly.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out who they're talking about."

"Well that's good, so you're going to send him home?"

"Most likely, he's kind of fun though. He might not remember my name, but he's super amusing," shares Gail.

"You would keep someone even though they don't know your name?"

"Maybe, plus if I continue to keep him, I know he will be easier to get rid of then someone else I may have feelings for," Gail decides to change the subject, "hey, how was your date last night?"

"It wasn't a date… What's the only type of horse that comes out at night?" Holly asks.

"…"

"Night-mares."

Gail groans. "That one was bad. How long have you been holding on to that one?"

"Since the other day," Holly smiles. The two drift into silence, both content on watching the sunset and drinking their beers. "So I've been thinking…I think I know who you're going to pick.

Gail looks at Holly, "Oh, please tell me, because I have no clue who I'm going to pick…"

"I can't tell you, you have to figure it out on your own."

Gail grumbles, "Oh you're no fun."

Holly kind of boasts, "I actually won my bachelor fantasy pool last year, that's how I got finagled into watching your season, a friend needed one more person to fill out their bachelor pool."

"So you picked me?" smiles Gail.

"Yup," Holly says as she takes a sip from her beer to cover her smile.

The following night Chris Harrisun appears to all the men in the hotel lobby. Someone asks, "where's Gail?"

"That's why I'm here; to tell you there has been a change of plans. Gail would like to skip the cocktail party and go right into the rose ceremony." Chris leaves to get Gail.

Brad M is talking to the camera "uh-oh, I really needed tonight."

Gail appears in a dark green evening gown. She looks up at the guys and smiles, "thank you for a wonderful week…" She picks up the first rose, "Brad W…will you accept this rose?"

Brad W accepts the rose gives Gail a hug and heads back to his spot.

Gail picks up another rose, "Shane…will you accept this rose?"

Shane says, "yes," gives Gail a hug and goes back to his spot.

Chris Harrisun appears, "Gail, gentlemen, this is the final rose. Gail…when you're ready…"

Gail picks up the last rose, it's between Brad B, Scott, and Brad M. She looks at all the guys, "Brad…B, will you accept this rose?"

"Of course babe," he gives Gail a hug and heads back to his spot.

Brad M and Scott say their goodbyes. Brad M is talking to the camera, "I should have spent more time on our relationship then talking about the others."

The remainder suitors have glasses of champagne in their hands and cheers to the next week.


	8. Chapter 8

"This week we're in Quebec City, Bienvenue au Quebec!" says a smiling Gail. "I'm down to six guys this week, and I'm looking forward to hometown dates next week. I want to see who I could see a future with and continue to progress our relationships."

The guys are wandering through Quebec City which already has snow. "Quebec City in December," says Craig, "It's beautiful."

"I will be able to practice my French," says Brad W.

"Do you speak French?" asks Liam.

"Un petit peu," responds Brad W.

Liam says, "I feel like every Canadian can say that."

Brad W laughs and says, "you're probably right."

The guys approach Chris Harrisun, "hello and welcome to Quebec City."

"Thanks Chris," the fellas say.

"This week there will be a group date, a one on one date, and a two on one date. On the two on one date one of you will be going home. Roses are important this week; it means you will be bringing Gail home to meet your family. There is only one rose this week on the dates, and it will be on the two on one. The rest will be handed out at the rose ceremony. Here's a date card for you and enjoy Quebec." Chris pulls a date card out of his pocket and passes it to Liam.

Liam reads, "Chris, Brad W, and Shane. Let's hit the slopes. Gail." Three guys head to the hotel and three guys head to the slopes.

Gail is waiting for them at the base of the mountain, "hello! Who's ready to ski?" The four grab some equipment and head to the gondola. "Has everyone skied before?"

Chris and Brad W nod and look to Shane, the lone American. He says, "what? I can ski! Michigan has some ski spots. I think the highest mountain I've skied has a 600ft vertical."

Gail says, "that's not a mountain, that's a hill. Today we will be skiing a 2600ft vertical. You ready for this?"

Shane nods his head, "it will be fun."

They spend the day skiing, going down the mountain and up the chair lifts. Everyone falls a couple of times, but they get right back up, and continue down the mountain. Shane talking to the camera: "I really like skiing in the trees, the fresh snow is beautiful." They end their day around a fire; the three are sitting in a circle with their feet close to the flames trying to warm up. After some idle chit chat, Brad W stands up and extends his hand to Gail, "shall we go talk?"

The two head to a separate seating area. Gail starts, "did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, I don't remember the last time I skied. I forgot how much of a thrill it is."

"It is fun being able to go as fast as you want down a mountain," Gail says with the biggest smile on her face.

"Within reason," Brad W fake cautions.

"…of course…within reason…" Gail says slyly.

"You just went zipping down the mountain, and I was like, she's going to head right into the St. Lawrence River. I'm like she's going to end up water skiing, not snow skiing," Brad W can hardly finish the sentence without laughing.

Gail laughs, "I wasn't going that fast, was I?"

"You were going ultra fast, I was surprised they didn't take away your lift ticket," Brad W smiles, giving Gail a hard time.

Gail slaps his shoulder and Chris appears. "Mind if I steal Gail for a minute?"

Gail and Chris get settled in a new spot and the two discuss how great today was and how they had so much fun on their horseback riding date last week. Chris says, "I'm so excited to bring you home next week to meet my family."

"And if we were to go to your hometown next week, who would I meet?"

"My son, obviously, I don't introduce him to just anybody, I'm excited for you to meet him. I think you two would get along great." Chris assures Gail.

Gail gulps, fully realizing that she is getting down to the end of this 'journey', she knows she will be making some tough decisions and feels like she needs to make one now. Gail looks at a smiling Chris and grabs his hands. "I can't meet your family. I feel it's not going to work out. I can't put you or your son through that."

Chris is shaking his head, "what?"

Gail answers, "I don't feel right meeting your family knowing we wouldn't work out. I don't think we would be a good fit. I need someone to push me, to question me, and I don't think you can do that."

"What do you mean?" Chris is in shock.

"You are a great guy, and a great dad, and I think there is someone out there for you, but that someone is not me." Gail let's go of his hands, "can I walk you out?"

Chris nods his head, not sure he can speak. They get to the car and Chris pulls Gail into a hug, and whispers to her, "I think you're making a mistake."

Gail shakes her head and pulls away. She squeezes his hand one last time and says, "goodbye Chris." The car pulls away with Chris inside. Gail takes a second to catch her breath before returning to the guys.

Gail heads back to Shane and Brad W and let them know she just sent Chris home. Brad W jumps up to give her a hug. Gail says good night and heads to her hotel.

The next day Gail sets out on a date with Liam to explore Old Quebec. The two marvel at the intricate ice sculptures they encounter as they walk through the old city. They make their way down a street and look through the shop windows.

Liam to Gail, "I can't get over how it feels like we walked into the past. Old Quebec is really well preserved."

"It is a heritage site," Gail says knowingly.

Liam nods his head and picks up Gail's hand as the two continue their walk down the old street. They enter an old church. Liam asks Gail, "do you want to get married in a church?"

"To the right person, I would get married anywhere," Gail answers truthfully.

Liam smiles, picks up Gail's hand again and leads them back outside. "Where to next?" Liam queries. Gail leads them to the old port. The two stop walking to watch the ice glide along the river. "The sound the ice makes in the water is nifty."

"The constant moving, never stopping," Gail gets lost watching the ice float away. Liam puts his arm around her and she snaps out of it, "ok, let's go inside, I'm cold."

The two head to a restaurant where they sit at a table for two and enjoy a couple of pints and some food. Gail looks at Liam and says, "next week is home town dates, if I were to go to yours, who would I meet?"

Liam smiles, "my parents, of course. I want what they have, they just love each other so much and you can visibly see it. I want that in a wife, a love that lasts."

Gail nods her head and coaxes, "any siblings?"

"Nope, just me," Liam thinks for a second, "maybe my grandma will be there or an aunt and uncle, we'll have to wait and see." The two talk about likes and dislikes and after an appropriate amount of time Gail bids Liam good night.

Gail makes her way back to the hotel and is just about to get in the elevator in the lobby when she hears, "Gail!...Wait up!...I just heard!"

Gail looks at Holly like she's crazy as she enters the elevator, "just heard what?"

"About Nick."

"About Nick what?"

"He's engaged."

"HE'S ENGAGED! Zut alors! To who?" Gail puts up her hand, "no wait, don't tell me…to Andy."

"I'm so sorry…" the elevator dings and the two make their way to Gail's room.

"No, it's okay. We ended our relationship, well he ended our relationship;" Gail says as she opens the door for Holly to enter. "He can be with whoever he wants to be with, even if it is his runner-up." Gail says rather bitterly and walks into the little kitchen area. "Geez! I don't know how I could be so stupid, why did I accept his proposal, I could see he was totally in love with Andy, especially when I re-watched the season, you could just tell. But he kept assuring me that I was the one for him. I just felt so stupid, you know?" Holly nods her head as she watches Gail grab the bottle of tequila to pour herself a shot. "You think you know someone then they turn around and do something unexpected like dump you." Gail laughs bitterly and downs her shot of tequila. She quickly pours herself another and downs that one too, "I don't even know why I'm upset." She pauses to collect her thoughts and pours Holly a shot, which Holly holds.

Gail slumps to the floor and quietly says, "It's not like I love him anymore, well not in the same capacity. I think a little part of me will always love him, but just the way he ended it all, and know he chooses Andy," Gail says all riled up again. She breathes to calm herself and kind of chuckles at herself as she says, "Zut alors… I can't believe I said that."

Holly looks at her with a questioning face and sits next to her on the floor. "I know what you're going through." Holly pauses, "last week in Collingwood, I had gone to see Tanya, she said she wanted to apologize for the way that things had ended." Holly lets out a sigh and downs her shot. She quickly gets up to grab the bottle to fill her glass and sits back down with the bottle at her feet. "I don't want to get back together with her, but like you said, a small part of you still loves them." Holly takes her second shot.

The two sit in silence until Gail grabs the bottle and fills their glasses. She holds up the glass to Holly and says, "to exes, we love you but we don't want to be with you." The two down their shots.

This time Holly fills their glasses and says, "to new beginnings." The two down their shots again.

Gail asks, "are you going with us on the two on one tomorrow?"

"Yes, something about extreme temperature changes screams 'a doctor should be present.'"

Gail nods her head and asks bright eyed, "you know what goes great with tequila? … pancakes. Want to help me make pancakes?"

From where Holly's sitting, she opens the fridge and pulls out two water bottles. She passes one to Gail and takes a sip from the other. Holly says, "no. No pancakes, not tonight. I'm ready for bed. And by the sounds of it, you've already had a full day of drinking."

"It's hard to be on this show and not drink, I feel like wherever I go, someone hands me a glass of something."

"Must be rough," Holly teases, "people constantly offering to get you drinks."

Gail sighs and responds, "it is…I feel bad turning down their drinks, so I end up with a ridiculous amount of drinks, not knowing what to do with them all, so I leave them behind….kind of like the men. I had a ridiculous amount of men, I didn't know what to do with them all, so I left them. Whoa…"

Holly smiles and says, "ok there, let's get you to bed." Holly helps Gail up and brings her to Gail's room. Holly picks up Gail's pjs and shoves Gail into the bathroom, "well, goodnight."

Gail asks from the bathroom, "can't you stay a little while longer?"

Gail exits the bathroom and Holly says, "just for a little bit, but then I want to go sleep in my own bed."

Gail beams at Holly and jumps into the bed and pats the other side for Holly. Holly mimics Gail and lies down opposite her. Gail's still smiling at Holly and Holly can't help but smile back. Gail lets out a yawn and Holly asks, "did you have a nice day today?"

"Yeah, Liam and I went and saw," Gail yawns again and this time Holly does too, "some old boats and ice sculptures and" they both yawn again, this time Gail continues to talk with her eyes closed, "and I think I would have had more fun with you.." The two fall asleep with smiles on their faces.

A phone rings; Holly clears her throat and answers it, "hello?"

A man on the other ends says, "hi?"

Holly repeats, "hi."

Man, "is Gail there?"

Holly's eyes shoot open, "one moment please." Holly hisses at Gail, "Gail, the phone."

Gail doesn't open her eyes and says, "take a message for me."

"Sorry, Gail is unable to come to the phone right now; can I tell her something for you?"

"Uh, sure, thanks. Tell her everything is set, see you in two weeks."

"Ok."

"Ok, bye." Holly hangs up the phone and places it back on the bed side table. She looks at the clock that reads 7:30 am. She's about to get out of bed when Gail stirs and Holly then realizes Gail's arm is around her waist.

Gail says, "go back to sleep nerd, we don't have to be up for another couple of hours." Gail pulls Holly closer to her. Holly decides she's deliciously warm and does as she's told as she lies back down.

The next time Holly wakes up she smells coffee and hears noises from the kitchen, where she finds Gail busy cooking. Holly quietly sits on a stool and helps herself to a cup of coffee. She watches Gail move about the kitchen. "Want some pancakes?"

Holly jumps in her seat and coughs up the coffee she just tried to drink, "yes please."

Gail finishes making breakfast and slides a plate in front of Holly, "I don't know why, but I wanted pancakes today." Holly chuckles at that and Gail shoots her a look while she takes a seat next to Holly and the two begin to eat.

Holly breaks the silence by asking, "are you ready for your date today?"

"Yeah, finally getting rid of Brad B today," shares Gail.

"Is that the guy who doesn't know your name?"

"Mhmm…the producers persuaded me into keeping him last week, something about 'he was good for the ratings'. Whatever." The woman fall into a comfortable silence.

Holly finally says, "Thanks for sharing your bed with me last night…and your pancakes this morning."

"Anytime."

Holly lowers her head, "sorry for falling asleep here last night."

"No problem, gosh you get cold at night. You were shivering last night so I pulled you closer to me, then you finally warmed up."

"Ah, that explains this morning when that man called and your arms were wrapped around me."

Gail's eyes shoot open, "what man?"

"Some guy who said, 'everything is all set, see you in two weeks.' Sounds rather ominous," Holly jokes.

Gail lets out a relieved sigh, "oh, that was just my brother. He and my family are going to meet my final two in two weeks, so they probably got all the plane tickets or whatever ready. You'll like my brother when you meet him, he can be super annoying but he's a good guy overall."

Holly gives Gail a lop-sided smile at the prospect of meeting her family. Holly stands up and offers, "let me help you clean up the dishes because then I really do need to go and get ready for today."

Later that day Gail meets Brad B and Craig in front of a Nordic spa, she hugs both men as they make their way inside. They go into separate rooms to change into swim wear and reconvene in a common room. Gail explains, "the recommended order is hot, cold, rest, repeat. There are hot tubs, indoor steam rooms, and saunas for the hot, the river and outdoor pools for the cold, and the outdoor fire pit or inside for the resting time. You guys ready?"

The three head into a sauna, after some time they move to an outdoor pool, and last the fire pit. They're sitting there, no one saying anything until Craig says, "this is awkward…who thought a two on one was a good idea?"

Gail says, "I agree."

Brad B speaks up, "what we're all here vibing, chilling at a spa, this is a great day, don't you think babe?"

Gail says, "nope super awkward."

Brad B decides to push Gail and says, "why don't you do something about it then." He nods his head towards Craig and makes a hit the road gesture.

Gail rubs her temples, "I'm sorry, I just can't, goodbye Brad B, good luck with everything." Gail walks him out to a waiting car and heads back to Craig before the car even drives off.

Brad B looking at the camera: "well that didn't go as planned."

When Gail meets up with Craig, he gets up to give Gail a hug and asks, "Should we go to the hot tub?" Gail nods her head.

They get into the hot tub and Gail asks, "who will I meet next week when we go to your hometown?"

"My parents and my older sister, as well as my brother." Gail nods her head to indicate she's listening. "My parents have been together for 30 years now, and I want a love like theirs." Craig pauses as he lifts his arm out of the water to put around Gail's shoulders.

Gail looks at him and says, "I think it's time for us to go in the river now." She gets out of the hot tub with Craig following. Craig eases himself into the river while Gail quickly strolls in. "It's just like a bandage, you just have to rip it off," informs Gail. Craig looks at her with worry in his eyes, but takes her advice and quickly immerses himself into the cold river. "So," Gail starts, "what do you think?"

"I think I prefer the hot tub…" Craig's teeth are chattering, "I need to get out." Craig quickly gets out and heads inside to warm up.

Gail's just about to follow when she sees Holly make her way towards the river. Holly tentatively dips a foot in and sucks in a breath of air in response. She closes her eyes and quickly gets into the river and exclaims, "geez this is freezing!" Gail laughs. Holly whips her head around and smiles when she sees it is Gail. "How long have you been in here?"

"Not long."

"Don't you find it cold?"

"I have some experience from last night with cold things; actually I'm trying to decide what's colder: you last night or this water…"

"Ha ha," Holly says. "What are you doing in here by yourself?"

"Craig said he was cold so he went inside." Gail gets out of the river, "I think it's time to get out." She makes her way to the fire pit. Eventually Holly follows. Gail says, "after awhile doing the hot, cold, rest, repeat, you feel numb. I feel so calm right now."

Holly looks at her, "you sure you aren't just cold?"

"No doctor, I'm fine. Actually I'm better than fine. Getting a good night's sleep last night, pancakes this morning, and now a day at the spa; I feel great. I don't know how to explain it."

"So you're ok with the whole Nick thing from yesterday?"

"Yup" Gail says popping the 'p'.

"Well that's got to be a good feeling."

"Great feeling," Gail says rather lazily. "Guess you didn't win your bachelor pool after all."

"That's ok, maybe I'll win this year."

She looks at Holly and asks, "ready for the sauna?"

"Shouldn't you go find Craig?"

"Oh yeah, I should go give him his rose." Gail thinks for a second. "How about this, I go give Craig his rose, say goodbye to him, and meet you in the sauna in five?"

"If you think you should…"

Gail shrugs her shoulders and says, "why not? See you in a bit." Gail goes inside to find Craig, who is already in his clothes.

"I was wondering where you went," Craig says with a smile on his face, "today has been fun."

Gail nods her head, "I agree. That is why…" Gail looks around for the rose, spotting it on a table made up for two with glasses of champagne and food. She picks up the rose and walks up to Craig, "will you accept this rose?"

"Of course, I can't wait to bring you home to meet my family." Craig hugs Gail, who is still in her swim suit. "Did you want to change?"

Gail says, "no, I'll walk you out first." Craig gives her a questioning look, thinking the date would continue. They get to the car out front and Gail gives Craig a goodbye hug and says, "see you tomorrow." The car drives away and Gail heads back out to meet Holly.

There is no rose ceremony the following day. Gail enters to the four men standing in a line waiting for her. "Hi. There are three of you without roses, and there are three roses available. These relationships are a two way street. If you are not feeling it, do not accept a rose. With that being said…Liam? Liam will you accept this rose?"

All the men accept the roses. Everyone grabs a glass of champagne. Shane raises his glass and says, "to new beginnings." A smile spreads across Gail's face having heard that toast earlier in the week.


	9. Chapter 9

Gail spots Holly sitting in a chair reading a book at the airport. Gail sits next to Holly, "where are you off to?"

Holly jumps, "you have to stop sneaking up on me." Gail smiles. "I'm heading home for a bit, I was told I was not needed to accompany you to the final four's hometowns. Where are you headed first?"

"Nova Scotia, then I'm heading west." Gail starts to tap her foot.

"Are you nervous?"

"Maybe."

Holly puts her hand on Gail's knee to stop the tapping. "You shouldn't be. You'll have fun, meeting new people, seeing new places…"

"But I'm meeting families."

"You had no trouble meeting my family…"

"Yeah…that was different though, I was your friend," Gail pauses and jokes, "and pretending to be your girlfriend."

"You were a really convincing girlfriend, do that again, or pretend to be their friend," Holly advises. Gail chuckles.

"I want this week to fly by, I want to be like a cheetah this week and speed through it."

"Actually cheetahs can only sprint at their top speed for less than half a minute. So it would go fast at first but then go back to normal speed and it would probably feel extremely slow."

"Pfft…you and your random facts are definitely preparing me for millionaire."

"Happy to help," Holly smiles at Gail.

Gail stands up, "well I better get going. Have a nice week Holly."

Holly gets up and gives Gail a hug, "you too. Be your charming self and I'm sure it will all be fine." Gail rolls her eyes and heads towards the plane she has to catch.

Gail meets Liam at a park with a view of Bras d'Or Lake. "Welcome to Whycocomagh! I'm so happy you're here! We are going to have a great time today!" His phone rings, he answers it, "Hi mom, yes she just got here, uh-huh, ok, see you in a bit, love you too." Liam hangs up his phone and smiles at Gail. He takes her hand and they walk along a road and they stop outside a building. "Since I got to plan the date today, I decided to show you what my life looks like. This is where I work." He gestures at the building behind them. "Let's go in!"

The two walk into the iron shop, Liam is smiling from ear to ear, excited to show Gail what he does for a living. Gail looks around and sees men making iron works and banging on iron and says, "it's a little loud in here."

Liam smiles and says, "yeah, isn't it great?" Liam guides Gail to one of the work stations. "Do you want to try being a blacksmith? We make a lot of custom creations, so what do you want to make today?"

"Are you sure about this? Shouldn't I take some sort of safety course so I don't hurt anyone?"

"You'll be fine. We have people try this every day. Here, you be my assistance. Let's make a bottle opener, because I know you'll use it." Gail laughs. The two work on the opener. Gail's amazed with Liam and his skills. They make the opener and Gail slips it into her pocket. "I made this for you earlier," Liam hands Gail an iron rose. Gail smiles at the work of art, she opens her mouth to say something, but Liam's phone rings, "hi mom, yes we were just about to leave, ok, yeah I can do that, yes, bye, love you too." He hangs up his phone. "Ready to go? Ready to meet my parents?" Gail just nods her head and bites the words she was just about to say.

Liam takes Gail home to meet his parents. They enter the house and Liam shouts, "mom, dad, I'm home!" He leads Gail into the kitchen where she meets his parents, both giving Gail a hug. Liam's mom gives Liam a long lasting hug.

Liam's mom takes Gail's hand and leads her to the living room. "I want to learn a little bit about you, and what you think of my son. So what do you think makes my son so great?"

Gail taken aback from the question shakes her head and looks at the woman across from her who has a big smile on her face, clearly happy to be discussing Liam. "Well he's a great guy."

"Uh-huh, and what else?"

"He has a good mentality, very loyal, he's good with his hands…"

"Don't you just love that about him? He's such a creative boy!"

After Gail spends some time with Liam's dad, it's time for Gail to say goodbye so Liam walks her to the car outside. "I forgot you were an only child. Did you like growing up without siblings?"

"Yes. My parents and I are really close and were able to spend a lot of time together and we are still involved heavily in each other's lives. They're kind of my best friends. If I were to have kids, I would only want one."

Gail thinks for a second, realizing her ideas on kids and Liam's do not match up, "huh." She gives Liam a hug and waves goodbye as she gets into the waiting car.

Brad W picks Gail up at the Halifax airport. "I can't believe you're here!"

Gail smiles at him as he gives her a hug, "I'm here."

"I'm excited to show you around Halifax, where I grew up. I work out on Cape Breton Island, but my family still lives here in Halifax," Brad W explains. He takes her to the Halifax Oval, "It's an ice rink the size of three hockey rinks! Isn't that cool!" Gail nods her head. "I hope you can skate!"

The two get some ice skates on and make their way out onto the ice. "This track is huge!" exclaims Gail. They skate close by each other and Gail asks, "is there anything I should know about your family?"

"My parents divorced when I was in high school, but they get along great so they will both be at my mother's house today. They realized they were better off apart then together. I'm the oldest of two siblings. The divorce was harder on them then me. It brought us siblings closer together, we were able to rely on each other and confide in each other about…anything." Brad W shrugs his shoulders. He picks up Gail's hand, "I like talking to you."

"I like talking to you too," Gail smiles at him. "Are you still close with your siblings?"

"Yeah. We get together at least once a month and we talk on the phone regularly. They both live in Halifax, my brother has a wife and a kid on the way, and my sister is engaged."

"Oh, the oldest sibling and the last one to get married," Gail jests.

"Just waiting for the right person," Brad W brings Gail's hand up to place a kiss on her mitten clad hand. They go around the oval a couple more times before they step off the ice to put their boots on.

Brad W and Gail go to Brad W's mom's house. They enter the house and get swarmed with the whole family. Gail gets swept into too many hugs to count. They all sit down at the dining room table and Brad W and Gail share what they've done thus far. Brad W beams, "we took a helicopter over Niagara Falls, it was amazing!"

"Wow," the family says in unison.

Brad W's dad gets up and asks, "Gail do you mind joining me in the living room?" The two sit down on the couch. "How do you like Halifax?"

"It's nice, it's a beautiful city."

"Could you see yourself moving here? I don't know what you've discussed with Brad, but Halifax is definitely home for him."

"Uh…yeah. I don't know what our future holds, but we were discussing a possible future in Toronto. Brad actually didn't ask me to move to Halifax, he always talked about moving to Toronto, but being a cop I could apply anywhere and he said the same thing about being a teacher."

Brad W's dad gives Gail a sad look, "oh." Gail, not know how to respond to that remains silent. Luckily she gets pulled away by Brad W's mom.

"So Gail, you have a tough decision to make soon…"

"I do…but being able to come and meet the guy's families helps me make that decision."

"Ah, and how do you like our family?"

Gail gives a smile as she says, "You guys are nice and welcoming. I feel like I could fit in here."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Brad W's mom smiles back at Gail.

Eventually Brad W walks Gail out to the waiting car that will take her to the airport.

Gail meets Shane outside a museum. "Welcome to Detroit!" Shane gives Gail a hug. "It's great that you're here. I wanted to show you one of my favourite places of the city, a car museum! I remember one of the guys telling us about a car racing date, so I figured we could check out some cars."

"Sounds like a great idea, lead the way." The two walk into the car museum where they see tons of classic cars. "I'm assuming you've been here before, so why don't you show me the highlights. Which cars should I see and which ones are your favourites?"

Shane says "great idea" and takes Gail hand to bring her to one of his favourite cars. He takes her to a 1956 Chevy Bel Air convertible.

"This one is pretty," shares Gail.

"Pretty?" questions Shane, "It's gorgeous. Look at that colour, so blue! And that symbol, I love that airplane!" Shane says enthusiastically.

"I'm not denying it's not a nice looking car, because it is, but I think I see a Mustang over there that I prefer," says Gail as she walks over to get a closer look.

Shane continues talking about the Chevy, not realizing Gail has moved on, "that grill is fantastic, and those lights, wow. Right Gail? Gail?" Shane looks around and sees Gail on the other side of the room so he walks over to her. "Do you like this one?" Gail nods her head, unable to pull her eyes off of a white 1965 Mustang. Shane takes her hand and says, "come on, I want to show you another one."

They walk up to a 1931 Bugatti. "I admit," says Gail, "this one is gorgeous."

"When you have spent the amount of time I have here, you know which cars to see," smiles Shane. They spend some more time walking through the museum before Shane says, "ready to meet my folks?"

They get to Shane's parents' house where they are greeted by Shane's mom, dad, and older brother. They're sitting in the family room and Shane's dad asks, "so Gail where did Shane take you today? Did you go to a speakeasy?"

"Um, no. We went to the car museum…why a speakeasy? Those seem a dime a dozen now a days," wonders Gail.

The dad kind of shrugs his shoulders and says, "bootlegging was very big in this area during prohibition. The car museum is pretty cool too though." They lapse into silence. "Well Shane, how about we go have a talk?"

The two men go into a different room. The dad says, "it's good to see you son. How are you doing?"

"Great dad, I really like Gail. We seem to click and I think she likes me too," Shane reveals to his dad.

"That's great to hear, I'm so happy for you. But, what if it doesn't work out? There are still, what, four guys left, what if she chooses one of them?"

"I just want her to be happy, if it's with me, great, if it's not, that's fine too."

"Wow Shane, that's really big of you. Let's go rejoin them."

After some time spent with the family, Gail has to say goodbye. Shane walks her out and says, "see you soon," as he shuts the door to the waiting car that will drive Gail to another airport.

Gail meets Craig in a courtyard, "Welcome to Kelowna!" Craig gives Gail a hug and spins her in a circle. "I'm so happy you're here! Today we are at my old high school. I want to show you were I grew up and explain how I became me!"

They walk into a school and Craig gives her a tour of the school pointing out some of the highlights, "that's the cafeteria…, that's the library…, that's the gym…" They walk to the other side of the school where Craig stops and says, "and this is where I found what I wanted to do with my life, the wood shop."

The two enter the shop where they meet Craig's old shop teacher. The teacher immediately lights up and says, "Craig!" and pulls him into a hug, he looks at Gail and says, "and this must be your lady friend."

Gail sticks out her hand for him to shake, "nice to meet you." Gail hears about Craig as a teenager and smiles at some of the funny anecdotes. A little while later, Craig and Gail say 'goodbye' to his old teacher.

On the car ride to Craig's parents' house Craig reminds Gail, "I have an older sister, who's married and has two kids. My parents have been together for 30 years. That's the ideal. I have a brother who's recently divorced…it was hard on him and the family. But if it doesn't work, it doesn't work."

They enter inside the house and are greeted by everyone. Gail is immediately pulled away by the two siblings. The sister says, "Craig is a special guy."

The brother informs, "he doesn't just bring anyone home to meet us all, so he must really like you."

The sister continues, "he's been hurt before…"

Gail jumps in, "I know Craig is great guy, he's super funny and always happy. I don't want to hurt anyone here, but I can only choose one person at the end of this. I was in the same position last year, do I go all in and risk getting my heart hurt or do I play it safe and try not to get hurt…"

"Ok. I get it."

"Ok." The three rejoin the others in the other room, where Gail is able to learn more about Craig and his family.

Eventually it's time for Gail to leave. Craig walks her out and gives her a hug before she gets into the waiting car.

Before the rose ceremony Chris Harrisun is talking to Gail, "how did your week go?"

"Good, I met a lot of great families. They all made me feel so at home."

"Is one of the guys standing above the rest?" wonders Chris.

"I don't know yet, they're all great, but…" trails off Gail.

"But what?" prompts Chris.

"I feel like something's been missing this week and I'm not sure what," Gail confesses.

"I've never seen you this indecisive before."

"Oh I know who I'm sending home, I just feel like something's off."

"Well I hope you find it soon because we're getting down to the end here," Chris informs Gail.

All Gail can do is nod her head. She gets up to leave Chris Harrisun to join the guys waiting for her in the other room.

"Thank you so much for letting me meet your families this week. They were all so kind and welcoming." She picks up the first rose, "Craig…will you accept this rose?"

"Gladly," whispers Craig as he places a kiss to Gail's cheek.

Another rose, "Brad W…will you accept this rose?"

"Always," says Brad W as the rose gets pinned to his shirt.

Chris Harrisun appears, "Gail, ….gentlemen,….this is the final rose. When you're ready Gail."

"Shane…will you accept this rose?"

Shane is smiling from ear to ear, "definitely."

Gail looks at Liam, "can I walk you out?"

Liam comes forward and walks beside Gail, "thank you for an amazing couple of months."

Gail smiles at him and says, "some girl will be happy to have you for a husband someday." She gives him a parting hug and Liam leaves.

Gail walks back to her final three where they cheers to the upcoming week.

The following day Gail boards yet another plane, _starting to really detest airports_. Holly sits down next to Gail on the plane to their next destination. "Hey! How was your week last week?" asks Holly.

"Fine," Gail responds flippantly. "How was yours?"

"Just fine? That's it? What did you do, anything fun?"

Gail thinks for a second, "yeah, I skated a huge ice rink, saw some cool old cars, and I made a bottle opener. Here," Gail gives Holly the bottle opener.

"Cool. Thanks," beams Holly. Gail smiles at how happy Holly is and starts to feel less grouchy.


	10. Chapter 10

Gail and Holly get off the plane and make their way to pick up their bags. *ring* Gail stops to answers her phone, "Hello."

"Hi Gail, how are you?"

"What do you want Steve?" Holly motions she's going to continue on to get their bags.

"I'm actually calling to let you know that mom and dad decided to make the trip to meet your potential fiancée into a vacation. They've decided to come a week earlier and I'm just calling to give you a warning."

"Oh, thank you," Gail says sincerely.

"You would do the same for me…so, how are you?"

"Fine, I'm happy to be almost done this 'journey.' How are you?"

"I'm fine too, mom and dad will probably want to see you before next week, another warning to keep your schedule open…well I have to get going, I'm working on closing a big case so I can leave on time, don't forget to put on sunscreen," Steve jests. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Gail hangs up her phone and joins Holly waiting for their bags to appear.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, my brother was just giving me a heads up that the family is coming tomorrow as opposed to next week. They figured they'd make a vacation of it." Gail shrugs her shoulders. "Something about they'll probably want to see me soon, but I have multiple dates this week, so hopefully I'll be able to avoid that."

The two then make their way to Isla Mujeres where they are to spend the next two weeks; the two last weeks of Gail's 'journey' to find love.

The following day Gail meets Brad W in front of a boat. "Hi Gail!" Brad W calls from afar. Gail stands on the dock waving. Once he's close enough, Brad W gives Gail a hug.

"So today we are going snorkeling. Have you ever been snorkeling before?"

"Never. This should be fun." The two climb aboard the boat that takes them out to a reef. They get their masks and flippers on and jump into the water. They swim around for a bit before Brad W approaches Gail and says, "I've never seen fish like these before!" Gail forces a smile. They continue to explore the reef. Eventually the pair go back on to the boat.

"Wow that was a lot of fish! It's like someone took a tank of fish from a pet store and dumped it right there," Gail points to emphasize. Gail pauses and looks over at Brad W who's eyes are wide open. "I mean…they were really pretty fish…"

Brad W looks at her, "are you ok? You don't seem yourself."

"Just a little stressed…"

"Ah…" Brad W pauses, "anything I can do to help?"

"No."

The boat brings them back to shore where there is a table set up for two on the beach. Brad W pulls out Gail's chair for her and she mutters a thanks. Gail spots the fantasy suite card and slips it under her plate. Brad W sits in his chair and says, "today has been fun."

"Yes."

"I was happy to bring you home to Halifax last week."

"Yes, your family is great."

"I'm glad you think that, they actually like you too."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gail quickly shoots at Brad W.

"Whoa! It was just a joke." Brad W puts up his hands.

"You sure? Maybe you're having second thoughts. I mean your parents were pretty hard on me…"

"What did they say?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle."

"That's not good enough, my parents said they like you, but my dad seemed a little sad after his chat with you."

Gail sighs. "He asked if I'd be moving to Nova Scotia and I told him you seemed more interested in moving to Toronto. That's still the plan right?"

Brad W pauses for a minute, "right…I mean my family lives out east, and they'll still be just a phone call away," he tries to convince himself. "I mean, sure I'll miss them, but it's never like I'll never see them again."

Gail stares at him, watching him have a mini crisis and wondering what she should do. "You know I could move out east," she offers.

"No, I wouldn't want that."

Gail looks at him confused, _why is it ok for him to move to Toronto, but me not move to Halifax?_ She's about to voice her thought when he stands up.

"Could we call it a day? I had a great time with you snorkeling and all, but I think the sun has gotten to me, I need to go lie down."

Gail gets up and nods her head, "yeah…ok." She gives him a hug, "see you soon." She watches him walk away on the beach as she sits back down at the table watching the waves break along the shore.

The next day Gail and Shane go to the mainland to visit some ancient ruins. "It's beautiful here," says Shane.

"Mhmmm," responds Gail. "Okay, let's climb to the top." Gail heads over to the base of the ancient ruins.

"Wait. Isn't it dangerous, are you sure we should go up there?" questions Shane.

"That's the point," says Gail.

"Could I maybe…hold your hand?" Shane hesitantly asks.

Gail looks back and gives him an apologetic smile, "of course."

The two make their way up the two hundred steps, Gail leading Shane. They reach the top, "you can open your eyes now."

"Oh…yeah…that sun is super bright," Shane tries to lie.

Gail shoulder shrugs an, "ok." They stand up there checking out the view, admiring their setting. "It's beautiful here," Gail echoes.

Shane responds, "mhmm…" He looks around, "ready to go?"

"What? We just got up here, if you really want to head down you can, I'd like a few more minutes up here."

"Uh, okay, I'll be on the ground."

Gail waves over her shoulder as she focuses back on the view, and wonders _how is he going to get back down if he closes his eyes?_ She sits down on a ledge and feels a familiar presence sit down next to her.

"What an incredible view," says Holly. Gail nods her head and scooches closer to Holly to lay her head on her shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"Just thinking…" they lapse into silence just taking in their surroundings. "Are you here because this date is 'dangerous'?"

Holly smiles, "yup. But, I mean," Holly spreads her arms out indicating the view, "how could you pass this up?"

"True." More silence.

"Are you sure you're ok? Is there anything I can help you with?" Holly queries.

"No. You're helping enough," Gail assures.

"Okay."

Eventually Gail gets up, "well I should go." She climbs down; and looks around for Shane and sees him sitting in some shade. Gail sits near him, "are you afraid of heights?"

"Hmm…no. I just wanted to hold your hand."

Gail rolls her eyes and mouths, "wow." She then clears her throat, "thanks for telling me."

"You didn't ask." Shane smiles at her.

Gail rolls her shoulders, tries to clear her head, _think happy thoughts._ Gail changes the topic, "thanks for bringing me to that museum last week."

"No problem, there are so many car museums in the D though, next time we can go to a different one."

Gail, wanting to see how deep his emotions run, asks, "what if there isn't another time?"

"Like I said to my dad, if you don't pick me in the end I'm okay with that as long as you're happy."

"You're willing to give up just like that? I want someone fully into this…." Gail trails off. "I want someone around forever, not until someone else who makes me happy comes along. Someone for the good and the bad. Someone who's willing to stick it out and be patient with me."

Shane looks at her curiously. Gail gets up from the ground and wipes the dirt off of her, "I had a nice time with you today Shane, I have some things to think about, I'll see you later on this week."

Shane tries to grab her hand, "where are you going?"

"To my place."

Shane shakes his head.

The following day Gail and Craig have a beach day. "We have a picnic basket, shovels, kites, and buckets; we can play in the waves, whatever we want."

Craig smiles at Gail, "as long as I'm with you, I'm happy."

Gail rolls her eyes at him, "such a charmer." Craig's smile gets even bigger. The two decide to make a sand castle to start. Afterwards they try the kite out. "I don't think there's enough wind."

"You just have to run fast, pretend you're chasing a suspect," Craig laughs.

Gail hands over the string, "your turn." Sometime later they open the picnic basket to have lunch. "Ready to go in the waves?"

When the two get out of the water Gail sees two very familiar figures lying on some cots nearby. She walks over, "Hi mom and dad."

"Hello dear, how are you?" asks Elaine.

"I'm fine, how are you guys? Did you have a nice flight?"

Bill answers, "yes, up and down, just how I like it."

Craig comes to stand next to Gail, "Mom, dad this is Craig, Craig these are my parents."

"Nice to meet both of you."

Elaine greets Craig, "Hello Chris."

Craig smiles, "I'm actually Craig, Gail already sent Chris home, he was a nice guy though."

Gail rolls her eyes at what just happened. "How do you like the weather?"

"It's nice and warm here, we're expecting a snow storm at home today," says Bill.

Gail nods her head and says, "I'll see you guys later ok?"

"Nice to meet you both," says Craig.

Gail leads Craig down the beach to a more private spot. Finding a nice spot in the shade Gail says, "I enjoyed meeting your family last week."

"I'm glad you did. They're not that scary right?" Craig jokes. Gail gives him a look. "What? What happened?"

"Your siblings were questioning me pretty thoroughly… Making sure I was essentially good enough for you."

"And?" curious to hear the outcome.

"They seemed to like my answers, but I'd say they still have their reservations. They asked…" Gail shakes her head, "never mind."

"What did they ask?"

"Just questions about past relationships and whether I was serious about you."

"But like, what specifically. They didn't mention Tabitha, did they?"

Gail shots him a questioning look, "who's Tabitha?"

"The girl I was going to marry…"

"Uh-huh. How long ago did you guys break up?"

"Before I came on the show." Shoulder shrug. "Maybe a month or so…"

Gail's eyes shoot wide open. "Ok…your siblings did not mention Tabitha. But, since we're on the topic, are you over her and ready to get engaged again?"

Craig nods his head vigorously, "Yes, I totally dig you. I have so much fun with you." Gail nods her head and leans over to hug him. He hums and says, "sorry Tabitha." Gail releases her hold. "Sorry about Tabitha, I mean sorry about not telling you about Tabitha." Gail gives him a questioning look but decides to go with it.

"Well, it's been fun. I'll see you tomorrow." Gail heads down the beach to talk with her parents.

She rejoins her parents, "is Steve here yet?"

"What? Why?"

Gail looks at her mom weird, "I need to talk to him."

"Anything we can help with?" her parents ask eagerly. Gail shakes her head. "He won't be here until tomorrow morning, he needed another day on his case." Gail nods her head. "Is everything ok?"

"I don't know…" Gail shakes her head again. "I'm going to go, if you see Steve…never mind. I'll see you two tomorrow." Gail walks away.

Elaine says to Bill, "I've never seen her like this before."

"Yes."

"Hopefully she's taking this more seriously this time; I hope she doesn't end up with someone who's going to leave her at the altar again."

"She knows what to do," assures Bill.

The following day…

"Hey Gail?" Holly questions as she just walks into Gail's house looking for the blonde.

"In the kitchen…"

"Hey Gail, they're looking for you." Holly stops as she walks into the kitchen and sees a man sitting at the table with Gail, "Hello?"

Gail looks between Holly and Steve and says, "Holly this is my brother Steve, Steve this is," Gail smiles as she says, "Dr. Holly Stewart."

Steve smiles as he immediately gets up to go shake Holly's hand, "pleasure to meet you doctor."

"Please, just Holly. Am I interrupting something, because Chris needs you Gail."

Gail smiles at Holly and says, "I'll meet you by the door." Holly leaves the kitchen.

Steve looks at his sister and says, "I think you know what you need to do." Steve gives her a smile and reassuring squeeze to her arm as she makes her way out of the kitchen.

Holly looks up when she hears Gail approaching, "wow…you look gorgeous."

Gail blushes slightly as she gets closer to Holly. "Walk me to the rose ceremony." Gail says to Holly as she ushers Holly out of her house and they are standing on the road.

"Why?" questions Holly.

"So you can walk me back."

"Why?"

"So you can spend time with me."

"So I can spend time with you?" Holly laughs. "Are you sure it's not so you can spend time with me?"

Gail shrugs her shoulders and says, "whatever."

Holly says, "since you asked so nicely, I will accompany you to the rose ceremony," as she strings her arm through Gail's and they walk down the road with smiles on their faces. They reach their destination and Holly sits on a bench, "I'll wait for you."

A smiling Gail says, "thank you," just standing there smiling at Holly.

"Go on already, so I can walk you home." Gail reluctantly leaves Holly.

The three men are already waiting for Gail. They all smile up at Gail as she walks into their vicinity. She sees the roses laid on the table, but ignores them. She stands in front of the guys and says, "thank you all so much for a great couple of days here and a great couple of months. I couldn't have asked for better guys. You are all spectacular in your own way." Gail pauses. The guys get ready for her to start passing out the roses, but Gail continues, "unfortunately, I can't hand out anymore roses." The guys look at her in shock. "I have been asking myself questions like 'who can I see spending the rest of my life with?' or 'who can I picture my life without?' or 'who can I plan a future with?' I don't see a future with any of you and I have to apologize profusely for dragging you all along for so long. I'm not exactly sure what possessed me to try and stick it out; you know maybe feel something eventually. But sadly, nothing. I feel terrible that it has come to this, and I know next week one of you was to propose, but I couldn't stick it out one more week just to fulfill some contract…" she says eyeing Chris Harrisun, obviously overhearing her speech. "This is the end of the journey, I wish you all well in your search to find love. I'm sorry it wasn't me because you all are great guys and any girl would be lucky to have you. My heart belongs to someone else." Gail makes her exit.

After sending all the guys home, Gail approaches Holly on the bench. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"Anytime." Gail sticks out her hand to pull Holly off the bench; Holly tries to release Gail's hand but realizes Gail's still holding on. They make their way back to Gail's place and Holly asks, "so what's the date tomorrow?"

"There isn't one."

"Do you get the day off?"

"No…I sent everyone home. I realized I was falling for someone else," Gail starts to swing their hands as they walk.

Holly stops, which brings Gail to a halt. Holly stares at their joined hands. "Wait. Who?" Gail squeezes their hands together. "You mean me?"

"Yes, I mean you. I realized everything I was looking for in a partner, I was finding in you. Sure it may have taken me a while to figure it out…but I would like to see where this could work. I have had more fun with you these last couple of months than with anyone else."

"I feel the same way." Holly smiles at Gail and starts to walk again, happy to be holding Gail's hand. "If I agree to go on dates with you, will there be roses?" asks Holly.

Gail laughs, "there can be or…what's your favourite flower?"

"Umm…not roses. I'm kind of tired of roses." Gail lets out a sigh. Holly continues, "I like daisies."

"I can work with that," says Gail. "Do I have to give you a daisy every date?"

"Well if you want to continue with our relationship," Holly jokes, "how else will I know you're still into me?"

Gail laughs, "you're weird."

"Yeah, but you like it." Holly smiles giving her a lop-sided grin.

"You're right, don't know why though," Gail jokes.

"Isn't there supposed to be a proposal at the end of this?" asks Holly.

"I propose we see where this relationship can go."

Holly simply says, "agree."

an: thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

Sometime after Mexico…

Gail lets herself into the apartment she now shares with Holly. She heads into the kitchen and drops her keys onto the island's counter next to the vase filled with daisies. Gail lets out a sigh, it's been a long couple of days, she has so far worked three days of double shifts and all she wants is to go to sleep. She walks into the hallway and sees a light still on in the bedroom.

"Hey," Gail walks into the bedroom to grab her pjs.

Holly, who's sitting up in bed, marks her spot in the book she's reading with her finger and looks up at a tired Gail, "hey."

"What are you still doing up?" Gail asks Holly.

Holly looks over at the clock that reads 12:23am, "I didn't realize what time it was, I started reading this book and I just want to finish it."

Gail smiles. "Nerd. Well I'm going to clean up then I need some sleep."

"Yeah, you seemed tired at lunch. I'm surprised they asked you to stay again."

Gail sighs, "me too. I can't wait 'til this trial is done and the others will be back to work. I don't know how many more days of this I can do." She goes into the bathroom and comes out a few minutes later. Holly back to reading her book only realizes Gail is back when she feels the sudden shake of the bed as Gail flops into her spot.

Holly smiles at Gail, "you always know how to make an entrance."

"Mhmm." Gail wriggles herself under the covers and lets out another sigh. Gail moves closer to lay her head on Holly and asks, "good book?"

Holly bends down to give Gail a kiss and smiles. "Not really, it's kind of a train wreck, but I can't stop reading it."

Gail chuckles silently and lays there next to Holly for a few minutes while Holly continues to read. Gail drifts to sleep but is suddenly woken up when Holly gasps. A somewhat alert Gail asks, "what's wrong?"

A distracted Holly slowly responds, "oh…nothing. I didn't mean to wake you. It's just this book…" She sees the bags under Gail's eyes, combs her fingers through the blonde hair, and watches Gail close her eyes again. "Go back to sleep, nothing's wrong," Holly assures Gail as she continues to play with her hair. "I'm going to read in the other room, I don't want to keep waking you up." She eases Gail off of her and gets out of the warm bed, she quickly wonders if she should just close the book and go to sleep, but her curiosity gets the better of her. Holly situates herself on the couch and pulls a blanket over her legs.

Gail wakes up first and goes to the kitchen to start the coffee. She sees in the family room that Holly is fast asleep on the couch with her glasses still on. Gail makes a mug for herself and one she sets on the coffee table in front of Holly, knowing she'll need it before work. Gail leans over to give Holly a kiss and whispers, "time to wake up."

Holly begins to stir and yawns, "what time is it?"

"Just after 7. When did you get to sleep?"

Holly stretches and reaches for her coffee, "I left the bed shortly after 2, and I still had about 50 pages left."

"So how did it end? Where is the book?" Gail looks around and doesn't see the book.

Holly shrugs sheepishly, "it was awful, so I kind of threw it over there." She points towards the garbage can by the door. Gail laughs. "I should have just shut the book and slept," Holly yawns.

"Nerd," Gail smiles.

* * *

This takes place sometime after Mexico to show that they're fine and that their relationship was real.


End file.
